Alemany looking to prove itself in the Western Division

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Well, it looks as if winning its first league title in nine years and making the postseason for the first time in eight seasons wasn’t enough to prevent Alemany from drawing a pretty tough opponent in the first round of the Western Division playoffs.

I heard the Warriors weren’t exactly thrilled with the seeding, but I think their matchup with West Torrance is pretty legitimate. The only other possibility in my book would be Lancaster because I find it a little odd the seeding committee thought Gahr‘s second-place finish in the San Gabriel Valley League was bigger than Alemany’s slice of the Mission League title.

And I know history isn’t supposed to be a factor in the seedings, but let’s face it -- Alemany is the new kid on the playoff block and I’m sure that had something to do with Palmdale and Gahr getting some easier first-round opponents.

‘We’re probably playing the toughest third-seeded team in the division,’ Alemany Coach Dean Herrington said. ‘I don’t know exactly where they got these seedings from, but, oh well, you got to play really good teams eventually.’

Still, Alemany shouldn’t be too worried -- it’s fully capable of beating West Torrance. A couple of gutsy victories over St. Paul and Chaminade to make the postseason tied together with a strong showing against Serra League champ Crespi shows its ready for another challenge. I feel both St. Paul and even Chaminade [the Eagles got the cold shoulder from the seeding committee] are better than anyone in the Bay League.

‘We’ve got to stop the run,’ Herrington said. ‘That’s the key for us.’

As for the rest of the division, I think St. Paul will definitely have its hands full with a surprising Quartz Hill squad that came within striking distance of Palmdale’s six-year Golden League dynasty. And Palmdale is looking good for a first-round win with its one-two running punch of Ronald Scott and Marquell Jefferson. But I want to see more than just a first-round win from the Falcons.

Check out the entire Western Division bracket here, or download it here.

-- Austin Knoblauch

-- Photo courtesy of Brian MacGregor