Temecula Inflight

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Inflight BBall: Temecula Valley
High School Preview--(January 11, 1998)

You may recall that a few days ago, last weekend in fact, we ran an announcement of a tournament run by a program called "Inflight Basketball". Well, the following day, January 7, we were sent an e-mail from Inflight BBall, which due to circumstances we couldn't really control (see our January 10 article, Where We've Been), we didn't get to post for you all. But it's here now. And we're going to have some additional information on the Inflight BBall Program (which will follow this article), but for now, the name "Inflight BBall" will also serve double duty: It's the name of both the basketball program and its traveling teams, and is also going to be the "nom de plume" of our correspondent out in the southern reaches of Riverside County.

In case you wondered just where Temecula is, here's yet another map (courtesy of Mapquest from Infoseek). Look for the red star (as if you couldn't figure that out for yourselves):

As you can see, Temecula is located in the Southwestern corner of Riverside county, just about on the back side of the Camp Pendleton Marine base.

Temecula Valley High School plays in the Sunbelt League, against Hemet High School, Moreno Valley High, Perris High, Rancho Verde, and Valley View. A tough group of teams spread over a pretty wide geographic area.

As of January 6, 1997, Temecula Valley High School had a record 12 wins and 2 losses. Depending upon the outcome of their first two games after the winter break, against Norte Vista (Sunkist League) and Murrietta (Freelance), on January 8 and 9 respectively, Temecula figures to either be ranked or not, at least that's what you find when you read the review from Inflight BBall which follows (edited only slightly by SoCalHoops):

Coach Rico Thompson in his 2nd year as varsity has started to build a winning tradition in basketball at Temecula.

Here's the roster:

The starters:

Chris Evans (6'-4" Sr. SG/PF)
Jacob Kramer (6'-6" Sr. F/C)
Chris Livaccari (6'-3" Jr. SG)
Mike Malloy (6'-3" Jr. G)
Ricky Difloria (6'-0" Sr. PG)

The bench:

Doug Crain (6'-5" Jr. F)
John Paul Afif (6'-9" Sr. C)
Matt Dresch (6'-7" Sr. F/C)
James Phillips (6'-4" So. G)

When talking about Temecula this year you have to start with Chris Evans. Chris is a lower D1 player and as a 6'-4" senior has become a man among boys. Chris has excellent vertical leap off of two feet which makes his picture perfect jump shot unstoppable from 15 feet and in. Chris has been scoring in the high 20's and is a lock for all-county honors.

Probably the biggest surprise for Temecula is the consistent play of 6'-6" senior Jacob Kramer. Jacob has earned all tournament honors at the Temecula Tournament and the Hemet West Valley Tournament. I don't know Jacob's exact stats, but he is a Rodman type, averaging at least 12 rebounds a game and probably around 15 points.

Temecula's best defensive player and 3 point specialist is 6'-3" junior Chris Livaccari. Chris has had 12 and 15 rebound games from the shooting guard position. He is averaging two 3-pointers per game and is shooting well over 50% from beyond the arc. His most impressive defensive performance was against Hemet's Moises Alvarez, when he held Moises to 11 points in Temecula's impressive victory.

At the other guard Temecula features Mike Malloy a 6'-3" junior with incredible leaping ability and quickness. Mike will be a top scorer for Temecula and just needs to improve his consistency. Mike beats most guards off the dribble and when he's on he's tough to stop. Temecula rounds out the starting lineup with point guard Ricky Difloria a 6'-0" senior. Ricky had a great finish to his season last year, but has been hampered by injury and illness so far this year. Temecula needs Rick on his game to go far in league and playoffs.

Amazingly Temecula's 2nd five would start on any other team in the valley [Jerry's Note: Inflight only listed four other players--we're sure there's a fifth, but don't have the info]. Returning varsity player 6'-5" junior Doug Crain will start and dominate as a senior next year, this year he coming off the bench as 6th man. 6'-9" senior John Paul Afif and 6'7" senior Matt Dresch would definitely start anywhere else and get major minutes against certain teams. Sophomore 6'-4" James Phillips probably has the biggest upside behind Chris Evans, but there's just not enough minutes to go around.

Temecula plays Norte Vista 1/8/98 and then Murrieta 1/9/98, if they can win these two games they will surely be rated. Murrieta is their arch rival and prospect of facing 6'-5" junior Brian Wethers has everybody in town excited about this upcoming battle. Temecula's team chemistry is coming together just in time to start a treacherous league schedule. With Perris, Rancho Verde, Moreno Valley, Hemet, and Valley View, I believe Temecula has to be ready for a war everynight. With their size and quickness, they along with Perris should fight for top dog in the Sunbelt League.

--Inflight B-Ball

Hopefully, Inflight B-Ball will send us the results of the Norte Vista and Murrieta games. When and if we get them, we'll post them up for you all.

SoCalHoops