Junior varsity statistics from California Cup #2 can be found here.
This write-up is part two of two write-ups on California Cup #2 and contains only the top nine JV teams.
1st place – Albany
Albany takes first place in their first tournament of the year with one close loss to Chinese Christian A (265-295). Sophomore Andrew Liu leads the team with 61PPG (10th scorer), supported by junior Madeline Zhang (35.5PPG) and sophomore John Friedman (23PPG). They averaged just over a neg a game, finishing with just over half as many as second-place Harker (14 to 25), and notably went 9/5/2 in their game against Lynbrook A (470-95). Even with a bonus conversion that could use some improvement (20.67), they managed to keep their competitors below 225 (and usually closer to 100) in every game except for their two closest of the day: a victory over Harker (310-290) and a loss to Chinese Christian A (265-295). Albany then went on to defeat Chinese Christian A 180-95 in a half-packet round before finals against Harker. While a contributing factor to Albany’s win in this tournament was likely the lack of usual top players on other teams, they show potential to continue to do well through this season and following ones.
2nd place – Harker
Returning no players from their last tournament of the previous season (BELLOCO), Harker is led by sophomore Nikhil Manglik (51.11PPG) to second in their first tournament of the season with strong assistance from freshman Edgar Lin (37.22PPG) and sophomore Soham Khan (27.5PPG). For their degree of inactivity, their PPB of 22.48 was extremely commendable. In addition to having a superior bonus conversion, they powered one more tossup than Albany (46 to 45), but had ten less gets and also double the negs (2nd highest of the tournament with 25 to “Escobar” B’s 27). They dropped games to both Valley Christian A (210-280) and “Escobar” B (215-405), as well as their closest game of the day, a 30-point loss to Albany in finals. All in all, their performance was a strong indicator of Harker’s potential to be a top five JV team if they continue to compete. Update: Upon the knowledge of the grades of Harker’s best players, this team will definitely be one to watch if they continue to compete and improve their current ability. Harker has traditionally competed in very few tournaments, but it would be great if the circuit saw more of them this year.
3rd place – Chinese Christian A
Chinese Christian A and “Escobar” B tie for third, with Chinese Christian A finishing 9-2 in their first sub-2nd-place tournament with sophomore Benson Yi, who lead with 67.27PPG (little over half his last Cal Cup PPG of 106.67, but tying with Escobar B’s Dhurv Muley for most powers at 33) and surprisingly only took 9th scorer overall. Senior Calvin Chiu’s PPG was likewise cut in half from his normal (31.82), but they were able to secure the tournament’s second-highest PPB (23.22 to “Escobar” B’s 23.7) and were notably the only team to have more powers than gets (57/50). Their closest game of the day was a 295-265 win over Albany, but only got half of Albany’s points in their half-packet round to get into finals. Other than that, however, Chinese Christian A’s only loss was to Valley Christian A (260-315), but again the outcome was reversed the second time the two faced off, also in a half-packet round (190-130). Benson and Calvin’s unusually low individual performance could be an indicator of new talent that has been unearthed from new and previously inactive teams, but this should also let them know that there is always more to learn.
3rd place – “Escobar” B
Despite tying with Chinese Christian A for third place, “Escobar” B finished with a record of 7-3, but did manage to secure the tournament’s highest PPB of 23.7 led by tournament 4th scorer junior Dhruv Muley (77.5PPG, tied for most powers and would’ve been top scorer without so many negs). Dhruv did, however, have the most negs of the tournament (18), contributing to their team’s likewise finish (27). They dropped games to Northgate (295-355), Harker (180-405), and Chinese Christian A (320-375), and their closest game was a 330-290 win of Archbishop Mitty. Given their PPB, if some of Dhruv’s teammates improve (particularly the two who scored by under 20PPG), they have a strong chance at being a formidable JV team in future tournaments.
Valley Christian A
Sophomore Omeed Askary once more leads Valley Christian A to a 7-2 finish, but sees the same overall drop in PPG that the tournament’s other established players faced (finishing with 50). He had less support this time around, notably lacking both sophomores Andrew Rao and Dhilip Raman, which likely caused the slight dip observed in PPB (20.6, still the highes tin their bracket). Valley Christian A was able to defeat both Harker (280-210) and Chinese Christian A (315-260), but dropped a full game to Albany (225-330) and a half game to Chinese Christian A (130-190). Their closest game of the day came in a 295-250 win over Lynbrook A. It would’ve been interesting to see how a full-strength Valley Christian A fared against the new teams and players present at this tournament, but even as is, the results confirm that Omeed and his teammates will need to continue their rate of improvement to hold their own in future JV tournaments.
Archbishop Mitty
In their second tournament of the season, tournament top scorer Siddharth Kulkarni (83.57 in Cal Cup #2, top scorer with 118.12 at Cal Cup #1) leads the team to a 6-2 finish, with support from Abishek Padwal (32.86). They averaged about a neg a game, with no players displaying an obvious problem. Their third player, Noah Kane Manuel, notably powered every time he buzzed, even though he only buzzed four times. Archbishop Mitty managed to only drop games to “Escobar” B (290-330) and Harker (270-340) and their closest game of the day was a 30-point win over Northgate (305-285). I wasn’t able to get ahold of anyone to establish Siddharth’s grade, but he will definitely be a name to look out for if he has more time in the circuit.
Bellarmine B
Returning only one member from their second-place team at Cal Cup #1, all-sophomore Bellarmine B finishes 5-3, once more demonstrating the classic Bellarmine balance the circuit has come to expect (Pravin Ravishanker, Hieu Nguyen, and Sejal Midha at 34.38, 29.38, and 22.5PPG, respectively). They dropped games to Harker, Archbishop Mitty, and “Escobar” B by at least 65 points and saw their closest game against Amador Valley C (245-230 victory). They held the second-highest PPB in their bracket (20.34) even missing three of their usual players, which says good things about the knowledge Bellarmine is developing in each of their teams.
Lynbrook A
Junior Oliver Dong (51.88PPG) and senior Avinash Thangali (42.5PPG) lead Lynbrook A in their first tournament of the season, finishing 4-4. Their PPB of 18.89 shows a marked improvement from their last of the previous season (13.43 at NAPOLEON). In one remarkable game against Foothill, they pulled off a 7/10/0 stat line, winning 515-20. Their 45-point loss to Valley Christian A (250-295) and low negs could give some indication of potential higher finishes with development of the team and more activity.
Amador Valley B
Returning all of their players from Cal Cup #1, Amador Valley B ties with Lynbrook A at 4-4 and manages a slightly lower PPB (18.31). Sophomore Manan Khattar once more leads his team with 70.62PPG, but has very little support from his teammates, none of whom broke 10PPG. None of their losses were particularly close, but they were all to higher-placing teams (with the exception of their 150-240 loss to Leland), as expected. Their close win over Lynbrook A (265-240) might imply a chance of shuffling around with Lynbrook A and other similar-level teams at future tournaments, and Manan will likely be a name to be aware of over the next few years.
Once more, thanks from NCQBA to those who played in and staffed Cal Cup #2!
