hemet 203

SoCal Prep & High School Report

Hemet: A Lesson In Parallel Symmetry
From The Boys & Girls--(February 3, 1998)

In today's edition of the Riverside Press-Enterprise, in a story by Richard Chaplin, the paper profiled both the boys' and girls' teams from Hemet High School. It seems that for nearly a month, the Hemet boys' and girls' basketball teams have been sharing an uneasy symmetry. When one wins, so does the other. Unfortunately, whenever one loses, so does the
other.

Ever since each team reached the 7-3 mark, the boys on Dec. 27 and the girls on Dec. 31, the teams have been mirror images in their progression through the non-league and Sunbelt League season. Both went into league play with 8-6 records, opened with three-game winning streaks and are now in the midst of three-game losing streaks. And both are in danger of losing playoff spots that seemed reachable just a week ago.

"It's kind of eerie, if you ask me," Hemet boys' basketball coach Alex Boyd told Chaplin and the Press-Enterprise.

The boys are tied with Moreno Valley Rancho Verde for second place at 3-3, behind Perris. They finish with three of their last four games at home, however. The girls are tied for third in league with Temecula Valley, with three of their last four on the road.

After their hot start in league play, the Hemet boys have been blown out by Perris, blew a nine-point halftime lead against Moreno Valley and were physically overmatched against Temecula Valley. Even though Moises Alvarez is averaging 28.7 points a game in league, he has accounted for 51 percent of the Bulldogs' offense in their three league losses. "What we've got to do to be successful, we've got to run our offense and get more than five passes in the halfcourt set," Boyd said. "We're taking way too many jump shots. When he (Alvarez) drives, they just stand around. We're just not sliding to the open spots."

While most coaches get jittery about losing playoff opportunities, Alvarez could be feeling just as much pressure. Hampered earlier in the season by a back strain, the 6'-1" guard likely needs to reach the playoffs to showcase his game one last time for college scouts. "Moises feels it really bad," Boyd said. "That's all he's living for right now, is getting to the playoffs."

On the other hand, Hemet girls' coach Sal Ika has been trying to get his team to not focus on the playoffs. And while two of his team's final four games are against Moreno Valley Valley View and Moreno Valley Rancho Verde, the bottom two teams in the Sunbelt League, both of those games are on the road. And their final two are against second-place Perris and first-place Moreno Valley.

"Let the chips fall where they may," Ika said earlier in the season. "If we beat the teams we're supposed to beat, we'll be in the playoffs. Our focus is, let's not worry so much about our hope of making CIF. Let's just work on dealing with pressure, decision making, recognizing what they're throwing at us."

While the girls have operated predominantly with a scoring-by-committee approach, it is clear Jena Lehr and Candace Simpson each will play a big role in Hemet's playoff run. One or the other has led the Bulldogs in scoring in 15 of the 20 games.

For their part, both teams hope the parallel symmetry continues, at least so long as both teams keep winning.