Varsity statistics from California Cup #3 can be found here.
This write-up is part one of two write-ups and contains only the top six varsity teams.
1st place – Bellarmine A
Led for the first time this season by senior Jonchee Kao (4th scorer at 50 PPG, Bellarmine for the most part retains their characteristic balance, with strong support by seniors Jarek Jankowski (7th scorer at 40 PPG), Alejandro Buendia (10th scorer at 37.5 PPG), and Abhishek Aditham (25.5 PPG). They had the field’s highest PPB of 23.12, although they did manage to hit 26.36 in one round. In three rounds, they powered 9 tossups, while their highest scoring round saw them go 10/6/1 in 595-115 win over Amador Valley B. Their only loss of the day came in an uncharacteristic 235-415 loss to Davis A, which probably could be largely attributed to their four negs. Bellarmine A did, however, manage to beat Saratoga A in their last game of the day, going 9/1/1 to walk away with 360-305 win, also their closest game of the tournament. While the uptick in difficulty between earlier NAQT sets and this tournament’s BISB is evident in depressed PPGs all around, it’s likely a safe bet to assume that Bellarmine A will be able to take the Cal Cup championship once again, although there is always the chance that Bruce rallies Saratoga A to win the last Cal Cup and a further tie break will need to be held.
2nd place – Saratoga A
Senior Bruce Lou once more takes top scorer with 134 PPG, leading his team to finish with just two losses, both to Bellarmine A (first round by a decent margin 295-385, the latter in Bellarmine A’s closest game of the day, mentioned above). Saratoga A and Bellarmine A had extremely similar tallies by the end of the day, with Bellarmine going 70/55/14 and Saratoga going 73/52/12, further illustrating how close in caliber the two teams find themselves. Saratoga A’s own closest game came against Davis A in a 355-325 win that was actually initially a win for Davis A, until Davis brought a moderator error to light. Saratoga A’s PPB also saw a slight dip due to increased difficulty, although at 22.64, it was still the 4th highest of the tournament (2nd-4th place teams all had PPBs of 22.xx). Saratoga A’s highest scoring game came against Escobar A, with the insane statline of 12/5/0 (a 650-95 win). While Bellarmine A still has a chance of winning the last Cal Cup and undisputedly taking the championship, Saratoga A again shows that they are a very real contender.
3rd place – Davis A
Led by 9th scorer junior Teddy Knox (37.78 PPG), Davis A too finishes with two losses to take third place. One loss, as previously mentioned, was initially a win over Saratoga, but the players of Davis A brought a moderator error to our attention, giving up what would have been an extraordinary addition to their victory over Bellarmine A, and for that, we at the NCQBA would like to express our appreciation for their integrity. Davis A had a PPB of 22.77, third-highest of the tournament, hitting 25 in two separate games. They gave Saratoga A their closest game of the day (the aforementioned 325-355 loss), while their closest came in a 370-365 win over Palo Alto A. They were extremely well-balanced (all players between 37.78 and 26.67 PPG)but did, however, lose to Dougherty Valley A by a very significant margin (205-405). This, as well as that earlier close game against Palo Alto A, could definitely have been a result of their four negs in each game – this is an issue they’ll definitely have to work on, especially as set difficulty increases. However, their upset of Bellarmine A and near-upset of Saratoga A shows that Davis A will definitely be a force to contend with upon the graduation of the previous teams’ players.
4th place – Dougherty Valley A
Led by tournament second-scorer senior Eric Chen (53.89 PPG), Dougherty Valley takes expected losses to Bellarmine A (230-445) and Saratoga A (180-495, exacerbated by four negs) and is upset by Palo Alto A (215-415, probably partially due to their three negs), but also manages to upset Davis A by the same margin (405-205). Eric has some support, mainly from senior Cody Zeng (30.56 PPG), but the team definitely will need to do some rebuilding after this season. For now, though, they did have the second-highest PPB of the tournament at 22.83, and even managed to hit 25 in two rounds. They will, however, need to address their negging problem before they can pose more of a challenge to the teams that placed above them.
5th place – “Guilder” A
“Guilder” A ties with Palo Alto A with a record of 5-4, dropping games to every team that placed above them by expectedly large intervals. Senior Karthik Srivatsan once more leads the team and also secures the title of third-overall scorer with 52.78 PPG, but has the benefit of balanced support from the rest of his teammates, all between 26.11-28.33 PPG. There was a clear drop in PPB from the leaders of the field (21.580), but they did manage to score above 22 in four rounds and hit 25.7 in another. “Guilder” A will also need to work on curbing their negs, but their biggest issue will likely be finding someone to replace Karthik upon his graduation.
6th place – Palo Alto A
Palo Alto A ties with “Guilder” A at 5-4, led by tournament 8th scorer junior Trevor Filseth (40 PPG) with not insignificant support from teammates. They dropped the expected games to the teams that placed above them, with the exception of their upset over Dougherty Valley A by 200 points. They had several close games (365-370 loss to Davis A and 285-275 win over Amador Valley A), the latter of which shows how little separation there is between Palo Alto A and some of the lower teams of the field. Again, another notable PPB drop from the rest of the field can be seen (20.94), but they too managed to hit 25 PPB in one game. It will be interesting to see if Trevor and teammates can improve enough before the next season to continue distinguishing themselves from th
