11th & 12th Grade Boys House Basketball Rankings: Week 4

By Darius Majd:

House Basketball is back with the Mavericks continuing to deliver big numbers and the
Trailblazers not living up to its name. Here is a look mid-season how it all shakes up.

1. Mavericks (3-0), LW: 1 – Once again, the Mavericks put up 60 points in a 65-40 romp over the Suns. This team has lived up to the hype, possessing possibly the best offense. Darien YMCA house basketball has ever seen. All of the usual suspects played well again, led by a balanced performance from senior Parker Lange. (pictured) It also looks as if the team has been taking these write-ups to heart, as their defense was significantly better on Sunday. (1/9)

2. Lakers (3-0), LW: 3 – The other undefeated team remaining, the Lakers had flown
under the radar heading into this week. After a 56-28 victory over the Trailblazers, the rest of the league has no choice but to be wary of this athletic and skilled team. Senior, Chris Carmody drops bombs from long distance as he hit four three-pointers and scored 20 points, earning this weeks "Player of the Week". Juniors
Luke Osherow and Bobby Weaver deliver the best 1-2 punch of any team in the league.

3. Spurs (2-1), LW: 4 – The Spurs moved up a spot despite losing 47-37 to the previously winless Celtics. It must be said that the Spurs were missing their best player (due to studying at the library), senior Ben Preston, his size and range makes him one of the best two-way athletes in the league, without whom they struggled to match up with senior big man Eric Parnon (although the Celtics too were missing a star player in junior Jack Voigt). The Spurs did find another go-to scorer in senior Graham Maybell, who was explosive on the offensive end.

4. Thunder (2-1), LW: 2 – For those wondering how the Spurs jumped a spot with the
loss, look no further than the only other 2-1 team. The Thunder were bested by the
Nuggets (whom the Spurs beat last week) 53-44, and junior Tony Britton was finally
held in check, scoring “only” 11 points. Losing to senior superstar Max Reyes may have sprinkled the seeds of doubt in Britton’s chances of being considered the MVP, although there is plenty of time to bounce back, which I expect this team (and its star player) to do.

5. Nuggets (1-2), LW: 6 – Victims of a rough early schedule, the Nuggets displayed
themselves admirably through the brutal three game opening stretch that saw them play
two of the top three teams. The 53-44 victory over the Thunder was impressive, and the narrow 60-58 loss to the Mavericks is very intriguing; hopefully a playoff rematch with the number 1 team will present itself for this team. Until then, the Nuggets must continue to develop an offense that revolves around more than a couple of players.

6. Celtics (1-2), LW: 8 – It is easy to look at the comfortable 47-37 victory over the Spurs and say that the outcome might have been different if Ben Preston had played for the Spurs. But with junior Jack Voigt and senior Alex Bruno missing, the Celtics might have had the worse share of player absences. Senior Eric Parnon is hard to stop when he gets a full head of steam, and junior Gabe Wade exploded for 25 points to pick up the slack. Senior Sam McCarthy was also key in grabbing key rebounds, and taking advantage of size mismatches with Parnon attracting most of the attention. It was a great team effort. The Celtics should continue to rise in the rankings now that they have finished their own murderer’s row against the top three teams in the league.

7. Suns (1-2), LW: 7 – The Suns maintain their spot in the rankings simply because the teams behind them have an even less impressive resume. The Trailblazers might
contest that they are better, but the Suns’ miraculous comeback when the two met last
week is the difference right now. In the other two games, the Suns defense has been
atrocious: after allowing 66 in their opening game, the Suns were ripped apart again to the tune of 65-40 against the Mavericks. To be fair, the Mavericks have put up 60 on everybody they have played thus far, so the performance is less egregious. Still, the Suns need more production from their supporting cast, as senior Tommy Farren has had to generate most of the offense by himself.

8. Timberwolves (1-2), LW: 5 – The Timberwolves followed up their collapse against
the Suns by taking a pounding from the Lakers, who more than doubled them up on
the scoreboard. Senior John Foster and juniors Jay Alter and Nicky Neville have produced points, but the scoring drops off significantly after them. Right now it looks as if the Timberwolves are fighting just to stay out of the bottom third of the league.

9. Rockets (1-2), LW: 9 – The Rockets finally got into the win column with a 40-34
victory over the Trailblazers. Although they didn’t do enough to move up in the rankings(beating the last-place team, especially by a less then dominant six points, is still not that impressive), the Rockets have reason to be hopeful. Senior Peter “Swiss” McDonough finally played his first game, and his presence gives the team a more experienced,explosive big man to go along with first-year player Justin Coley (senior). If he can perform in the frontcourt, it will open things up for junior scoring threats Eric Walsh and Ryan and Bobby Minion.

10. Trailblazers (0-3), LW: 10 – There aren’t many positives for the Trailblazers to
take away from their season thus far. They are the last winless team remaining, and
they didn’t really threaten to win any of the first three games; even the 40-34 loss to the Rockets could classify as a “comfortable win” for their opponents. To make things worse, the Trailblazers have done this all against one of the more forgiving schedules to open the season: games against the #4, #8, and #9 teams. There are plenty of teams in house lore who have had terrible regular seasons, only to respond by making a deep run into the playoffs. In spite of this, the possibility of a playoff run for the Timberwolves seems like a fantasy at this point.