Reflecting on the Warriors' title

The San Francisco Giants were underdogs in the postseason each time they won their three titles in the past five years. So it felt different with the Warriors as one of the best teams in the regular season in NBA history en route to their championship.

After being the eighth team in history to finish with a 10 point differential in the regular season, Golden State wasn't quite as dominant in the postseason. The Warriors were the best team in the postseason, but it is a different beast. You don't sneak your way into the playoffs in the Western Conference.

While the Warriors became the first team with no players with NBA Finals experience since Michael Jordan led the 1990-91 Bulls to the franchise's first title, they were also the first team with a rookie head coach to win a championship since the Showtime Lakers in 1982 with Pat Riley. With the higher level of play and the playoff format, Kerr seemed ill-prepared at times. While most media focused on the inexperience of the players at that level, I faulted Kerr. But in the end, he won the coaching battle in each series.

The Warriors faced adversity in each round, but Kerr made adjustments and the team executed his plans to perfection. Outside of Stephen Curry's fall and Klay Thompson's concussion, watching LeBron James prove himself as one of the best of all time provided the biggest scare to Golden State's dreams of winning a title. But the Warriors were the better team and Kerr's moves, along with the team's depth, made the difference.

It turns out the Warriors didn't need Thompson in the Finals -- well at least not that much. He did score 15.8 points per game and played stellar defense. But Andre Iguodala led the Warriors when they needed it most. They followed his lead on both ends of the court.

When the Golden State offense gasped for air, Iguodala resuscitated it by pushing the pace. But it wasn't just his energy on the fast break, Iguodala led the NBA Finals with a 62 effective field goal percentage (eFG%). On defense, Iguodala shut down James -- or at least slowed him down as much as possible. When he was in, James shot 38 percent and the Cavs were minus-55. When he was out, James shot 44 percent and Cleveland was plus-30.

Curry didn't earn any MVP votes for the Finals, but he had a sneaky good series. Besides crossing up Matt Dellavedova, he had some other daggers. Curry played the most minutes of any Warrior and was second overall in Finals minutes to James. He averaged 26 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists a game with a 55 eFG%. I'm glad he didn't split the vote with a more-than-deserving Iguodala, but Curry was huge.

Stevenson golf coach Bill Hankison retiring

After 38 years of coaching sports at Stevenson and bringing the school its first state title, Bill Hankison is retiring.

Since becoming head coach of the golf team in 2005, the Pirates enjoyed a run of nine consecutive league titles and five consecutive Central Coast Section titles between 2010-2014.

"He never gets down on you if you have a bad round or anything," senior Pirates golfer Nick Simmons said. "Supportive. He helps us all out a lot and will pretty much do anything we need in order to help us achieve success."

 In 2013, Hankison led the Pirates to a victory in the CIF State Boys Golf Championships, the school's first state title in any sport. But Hankison didn't only coach golf at Stevenson.

Since arriving in Pebble Beach in 1976, Hankison has coached tennis, girls and boys basketball and golf at Stevenson. He has also served as a counselor, teacher and chair of the English department. Hankison said he will continue to teach.

"He's a good guy. It's been fun knowing him for the past four years," said senior Sunny Yan. "Even like outside of golf, just like conversations we've had in the van (going to and from tournaments). He's been my teacher for the past few years in English as well, so we've gotten pretty close."

Yan will be participating in the CIF State Boys Golf Championships on June 3 as an individual for Stevenson.

Stevenson athletic director Jeff Young, who is also retiring, arrived at the school in 1979. Hankison was already hard at work enriching the lives of Stevenson students by then.

"Bill has done a remarkable job of being such a positive influence in the lives of so many students both in the classroom and in the sporting arenas," Young said. "He has spent countless hours helping students discover and expand their passions in life. Bill is a master teacher and coach and has garnered deep respect among players and coaches alike."

At the Mission Trail Athletic League Golf Championships last month, Carmel coach Ross Kroeker presented Hankison with a pin flag signed by the golfers. Kroeker said he likes to pick Hankison's brain for wisdon.

"Bill cares a lot about the kids," Kroeker said. "Not just the players on his team, but about all of the players."

Carmel High catcher Daniel Higman has big shoes to fill

After the Carmel High baseball team's 4-3 victory over Aragon (San Mateo) on Tuesday, senior outfielder William Kehoe said teammate Robby Treadwell's injury was one of the worst things he could have seen happen.

It was especially tough to watch for Kehoe, who's played baseball with Treadwell for over 10 years. No matter what team they are rooting for, nobody in the stadium wants to see something like that happen. An injury like that is tragic. The good news, is that the senior catcher didn't break any bones and should fully recover.

"We know we'll have him emotionally and we know we'll have him mentally, we're just going to lose him physically for Saturday," Padres coach Randy Bispo said after Tuesday's game.

No. 7 Carmel (23-7) meets No. 4 Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton (20-12) on Saturday in the Central Coast Section Division II final at 1 p.m. at San Jose Municipal Stadium.

While Carmel will miss Treadwell in the lineup and behind the plate, the senior has worked with backup catcher Daniel Higman, Bispo said. Higman, a sophomore, appeared to do a fine job in the final two innings of Tuesday's win after Treadwell's injury.

Bispo said what Treadwell brought to the team is immeasurable, but he's confident Higman can fill the role for Saturday's game. Bispo coaches the Carmel catchers and he said that Treadwell has mentored Higman, which should make the transition as seamless as possible given the situation.

"He's put a lot of time in with the backup catcher, Robby himself has, so we're really confident in that guy getting the job done -- and he knows that," Bispo said of Higman.

Senior Tanner Koopmans should be the other part of Carmel's battery to start the game on Saturday. The righty allowed only three earned runs on five hits in his last outing, a five-inning win against Mills (Millbrae) at Monterey Peninsula College on Saturday. Carmel ace Wesley Noble and reliever Carter Hayes should be available out of the bullpen. Higman caught Hayes for two innings on Tuesday.

Local golf notebook

At the high school, junior college and NCAA level, the regular season is over for golf. As you might expect from teams playing in and around Pebble Beach, many of our local squads are looking at deep postseason runs.

MPC

The men's team at Monterey Peninsula College is looking for its first state title since 1987. The Lobos get the opportunity to get that done next week. The CCCAA Men’s Golf State Championship opens up on Monday at Kings River Country Club, near Fresno.

The Lobos took third place in the Northern California CCCAA Men’s Regional Championships at Merced Golf & Country Club, with top-10 finishes from Taylor Daniels and Greg Moreno. If league MVP Will Cross is at the top of his game next week, the Lobos will be in good shape.

"The team has a great chance of winning this year," MPC coach Justin Russo said in an email.

Central Coast Section

On the high school level, Stevenson appears to be in the driver's seat. Longtime coach Bill Hankison asked for a little more out of his seniors before the CCS Regionals and they delivered. Nick Simmons shot 3-under 68, the top score from either day of the tournament. The Pirates are senior-heavy and would no doubt love to earn Hankison one more state title before he retires.

After Stevenson posted a 359 team score on Day 1, Bellarmine one-upped the Pirates and shot 356 when they got the chance to compete on the second day. Both teams had two players under par, with Nick Rivera (70) joining Simmons for Stevenson and Bellarmine's Eddy Lai and Berk Harvey coming in at 69 to share medalist honors on the second day. Expect to see those two teams battling it out for a section title on Tuesday in the CCS Championships at Rancho Cañada’s West Course in Carmel Valley.

Don't count out Palma, which joins Stevenson as a Monterey County representative on Tuesday. The Chieftains are a laid-back group that doesn't fold under pressure. Hansi Hell was co-medalist with the two Bellarmine golfers on Day 2 at the CCS regionals. Palma is solid up and down its lineup.


CSUMB

Last, but certainly not least, the CSU Monterey Bay men's golf team has its eyes on another national title. The Otters will compete in the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf National Championship on May 18–22 on the Jones Course at Rock Barn Golf and Spa in Conover, North Carolina.

CSUMB looked dominant at the NCAA West Region Tournament at Hiddenbrooke Golf Course in Vallejo, with Ray Richards draining a 70-foot putt on the 18th hole to earn a share of the individual title. Carr Vernon, Anton Rosen and Fredrik Jullum are All-CCAA golfers. The Otters are no strangers to deep NCAA runs and they are used to the intensity that comes with playing for an NCAA title.

CSUMB women's disc golf wins major

In the team's first season of competition, the CSU Monterey Bay women's disc golf club team won the 2015 National Collegiate Disc Golf Championship, a Professional Disc Golf Association major, last weekend.

The team, made up of Traci Alger, Mikaela Bogdan, Jenn Schopfer and Guillermina Rodriguez, edged the University of Oregon by one shot to win the tournament title at 736. The Otters led by seven shots heading into the finals, but the Ducks quickly whittled away at the Otters' lead. Down by a shot, Oregon missed a putt on the final hole, allowing CSUMB to lay up and take the title.

"It was great to have challenging competition such as the Oregon Ducks, a Division I school," Alger wrote in an email.

Alger led the way for the Otters, taking eighth in the individual competition.

"The most exciting thing about the competition for me was making the cut for the women’s individual championship," Alger said.  "The top eight women competed in a round that went into the dark on the third day of competition, which consisted of 13 holes of the Old Glory championship course. The focus and determination of all those women was difficult to beat."

CSUMB was one of only two schools to field a team in every division (women's championship, men's championship, men's first flight, men's second flight).

The team's coach, Merle Witvoet, also teaches a disc golf class at CSUMB. Sierra Lewis paved the way for the CSUMB women's disc golf team last year, competing as an individual before a women's team was created. The Otters are supported by events and fundraisers held by the disc golf club on campus.

The team practices at the Cypress Course and Oaks Course at CSUMB, as well as the Ryan Ranch Disc Golf Course in Monterey.  The club plans to help create a disc golf learning course in the park next to Los Arboles Middle School in Marina.

There will be a new disc golf course in the area before that, at least for a weekend. Alger, Witvoet and club Vice President Michael Goitia are in charge of volunteer coordination for the inaugural St. Jude Disc Golf Charity Invitational at Bayonet Golf Course on May 22-24. The Professional Disc Golf Association event is being held to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Local golf notebook

While the golf world focuses in on Augusta National Golf Club, things are heating up locally as the end of the season approaches for Monterey County college and high school golf teams.

While the CSU Monterey Bay men's golf team ended its streak of three consecutive tournament titles this week, the Otters still managed a third-place finish in the Western New Mexico University Mustang Intercollegiate at at Palm Valley Golf Club in Arizona. CSUMB's Fredrik Jullum took second place, finishing a shot off the lead at 6-under 210. It was the Jullum's top tourney score of the season, beating a 217 from last month.

"I am happy to see Fredrik up near the lead the entire tournament, as well as Carr (Vernon) and Robby (Salomon) having solid finishes," CSUMB coach Jason Owen said in a statement.

Vernon and Salomon finished tied for 10th place at even par. Proving the depth of the team, six golfers have led the Otters at tournaments this season. CSUMB wraps up the regular season at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational at Turlock Golf and Country Club on April 13-14, before gearing up for the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship the following week.

CSUMB women

The women's golf team at CSUMB wrapped up its regular season this week with a seventh-place finish at the Sonoma State Spring Invitational on Foxtail Golf Club's North Course. Freshman Brianna Areia wasn't able to hang onto her first-round lead at the tourney, but she finished in second place at 7-over 151. Sophomore Katrina Mendez, a Trinity Christian alumna, finished tied for 14th.

The Otters' season may be over if they aren't seeded into the NCAA Regional tournament, because the CCAA doesn't sponsor women's golf so there is no CCAA women's tournament.

MPC men

The men's golf team at Monterey Peninsula College ranks atop the Coast Conference and might be the best junior college team in Northern California.

Will Cross is leading the conference with a 72.8 stoke average, but it was Greg Moreno who led MPC with a 1-under 70 at Rancho Cañada's East Course this week. The Lobos earned the team win by seven shots over West Hills in a Coast Conference match.

MPC competes Monday at Kings River Golf and Country Club in Kingsburg. The NorCal Regionals will be held May 3-4 at Merced County Club.

High school

The two Monterey County boys golf teams to compete in last year's Central Coast Section Championships, Stevenson and Palma, went head-to-head last week and the matchup lived up to the hype.

Stevenson shot 203 to Palma's 207 to earn a close win at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch. The Pirates' Nick Simmons shared medalist honors with Andrew Grogin of the Chieftains at 39.

Rounding out the scoring for Stevenson was Luis Ruiz (40), Sunny Yan (41),  Armand Melendez (41),  Tivon Sadowsky (42) and Nick Rivera (42). Hansi Hell carded a 41 for Palma, followed by Joey Burlison (42), Caleb Cater (42), Jack Burlison (43) and Travis Winn (43). This week, Palma defeated Loyola of Los Angeles 381-386 at Laguna Seca.

Palma and Stevenson get back into league play next week, with the Chieftains hosting a Gabilan Division match at Laguna Seca on Wednesday and the Pirates facing Carmel at Rancho Cañada on Tuesday.

The Mission Trail Athletic League Championship will be held April 30 at Poppy Hills and the Monterey Bay League Championship takes place April 27 at The Club at Crazy Horse Ranch. The CCS Regional tournaments take place May 5-6, with the CCS Championships May 12.

CSUMB men's cross country off chopping block

After being told last month that the team would be cut after the 2015 fall season, it appears the CSU Monterey Bay men's cross country team is off of the chopping block.

Jaime Madrigal, a senior on the CSUMB men's cross country team, said coach Greg Rhines had a meeting with the team Wednesday morning and told the athletes that the program was not being dropped. Madrigal says the runners were also told that the school plans on adding a men's track team in the next one to three years.

On March 12, another team meeting was held with CSUMB's athletic director, Kirby Garry, and the runners were told of plans to cut the team. The following week, Garry told The Herald that no decision had been made regarding the future of the program.

Immediately after the athletes learned of what seemed to be the impending demise of their program, they took to social media with the hashtag #SaveMBXC and created an online petition on Change.org. The petition has more than 2,200 signatures.

CSUMB currently has a women's cross country team and a women's track team. The women's track team, currently competing this season for the first time since it was established, shares all of its athletes with the cross country squad.

Big week for CSUMB golf

Both the men's and women's golf teams at CSU Monterey Bay took steps forward this week.

The Otter men recorded their second consecutive tournament championship on Tuesday, earning a four-shot victory in UC San Diego's SoCal Intercollegiate at Carlton Oaks Country Club. It was a team effort as CSUMB had four golfers in the top 10. Ray Richards led the way for the Otters with a fourth-place finish, just two shots behind co-medalists Adam Stone (CSU East Bay) and Dalen Yamauchi (Hawaii Hilo).

CSUMB's Brandon Hortt finished tied for fifth, just two shots behind Richards. Carr Vernon took seventh place, ending a shot behind Hortt, and Fredrik Jullum took eighth for the Otters.

"We have a lot of good players that are learning to score even when they don't hit their best," CSUMB coach Jason Owen said in a statement.

The last time the Otters won two tournaments in a row was 2013 when CSUMB won the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship and the NCAA regional. The Otters ended up reaching the NCAA match play quarterfinals that year.

The Otters won the Notre Dame de Namur Argo Invitational at Poppy Ridge two weeks ago. The CSUMB men's golf team will try and make it three in a row next week in CSU East Bay's Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout at Hiddenbrooke Golf Club in Vallejo.

While the women's golf team at CSUMB wasn't able to match the men with a victory, the team took huge strides in its Otter Invitational tournament that concluded at Bayonet Golf Course on Tuesday. The Otters led their tournament after one round, but finished things up in third place.

"It was a great tournament for us," CSUMB coach Darcy Milligan said in a statement. "I know the players are disappointed that they couldn't hold on to their first-round lead, but we're very young and learning how to finish is part of the growing process. We're going to be a better team with the experience we gained this week."

The result was the best for the Otters since their own tournament last year when they took second. Arielle Swan-Smith led CSUMB by taking fourth place, three behind medalist Mailen Domec Chantry of Nova Southeastern. Trinity Christian alumna Katrina Mendez matched Swan-Smith for the best round by an Otter on Tuesday with an 80.

The Otters return to action April 3 in the Mustang Intercollegiate at Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Arizona.

MPC men's golf team in first place

After getting out to a hot start, winning three of four conference tournaments, the Monterey Peninsula College men's golf team has continued to roll this year.

The Lobos started March out competing against some of the top teams in the state in the Point Conception Invitational at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc. After playing through heavy winds and rain on the first day, MPC had the lowest score of the second day. The Lobos took third as a team. Taylor Daniels finished third and Will Cross finished fifth for MPC.

Last week, the Lobos finished 31 under as a team against Reedley College at Rancho Cañada Golf Club. Brandon Hoskins led the way for MPC by carding a 65. Will Cross was two back at 67 and both Greg Moreno and Taylor Daniels finished at 68 for MPC. The Lobos are currently the leaders of the Coast Conference.

MPC swings back into action on Monday when the Lobos compete in a conference tournament at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin.

AT&T Pebble Beach Junior Golf Association: Blackhorse Tournament

Alec Phillips of Santa Cruz shot 2-over 74 at Blackhorse Golf Course in Seaside to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Junior Golf Association's Boys Platinum flight on Sunday, edging George McNeely of Carmel by one shot.

Sunny Yan, a Stevenson School senior who is headed to Columbia University in the fall, shot 4-over 76 to finish third.

In the Girls Gold flight, Megan Yang of Saratoga carded a 5-over 41 to earn medalist honors. Antonia Malate, a Stevenson student from Seaside, was one shot back at 42. Marina's Melissa Morales finished third at 46.

The AT&T Pebble Beach Junior Golf Association's next event is the Peter Hay Spring Championship on April 25 at Peter Hay Golf Course in Pebble Beach.

Golf: Junior Tour of Northern California, Spring Series I

Danville resident Kevin Velo shot 1-over 143 to win the boys title and Yealimi Noh of Concord shot even-par 142 to win the girls title at the Junior Tour of Northern California's Spring Series I Championship held Saturday and Sunday at par-71 Stockton Golf and Country Club and Elkhorn Golf Club.

Daniel Kim of San Jose and Joshua McCarthy of Danville pushed Velo until the end, finishing one stroke off the pace. McCarthy, the runner-up at the 2014 Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, wrapped up the tournament with pars on his final nine holes.

Noh faced little competition on top of the girls leaderboard, posting identical rounds of 71 to defeat the field by eight strokes. Sabrina Iqbal and Angela Liu, both of San Jose, finished at 8-over 150.

The Spring Series continues with the Spring Series II Championship on Saturday and Sunday at Windsor Golf Club in Windsor.

End of an era for North Salinas High girls hoops

A group of five seniors who changed the course of the North Salinas High girls basketball team played their final game together Wednesday night in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the Vikings gym.

Nicole Hermosillo-Wright, Monae Hobson, Adea Prime, Alyssa Springs and Aliyah Urzua came up as freshmen on the North Salinas varsity squad. Most of the group played together in middle school and set a goal to win two titles on the high school team. By their sophomore year, they won their first of three consecutive Gabilan Division titles.

Based on their size, the group could be considered over-achievers. While their height may have been the difference in a season-ending loss in the NorCal Division I playoffs against Oakland Tech, the Vikings made up for their size with blistering speed and a passion for defense rarely seen at the high school level. 

While coach Darren Jackson brought the program its first Central Coast Section Division I girls title back in 2010, he was able to coach up the current team to bring the program to its peak. The team bought into Jackson's system and the girls had the skill and intelligence to run it flawlessly. The Vikings didn't go down with a whimper against Oakland Tech. Despite going down two scores with just over seven seconds left, North Salinas fought relentlessly until the buzzer sounded. 

The emotion on the Vikings' faces showed how much their cared about this team. The crowd reflected that as well. It was clear Wednesday that the North Salinas community knew how much the girls had invested themselves in this team. It was clear the crowd appreciated the passion the Vikings put out on the court, day in and day out. While some gyms sit half-empty for both boys and girls postseason basketball games, the huge crowd at North Salinas was electric.

It's clear that the group of five seniors, coined the Jackson 5, can be successful in whatever awaits them now that their varsity hoops careers are over and graduation is only a few months away. If they put in the effort and embrace it with the passion and hard work they put into their run of back-to-back CCS titles, anything's possible. While Jackson will have a tough time finding replacements, junior Jordyn Enos matched the level of intensity of her senior counterparts. 

I only got the chance to watch this group together a handful of times, but their passion for the sport they love was inspiring. Congratulations to the Vikings on all of their accomplishments.

Leading off

Ever since I came to the Monterey Herald nearly three years ago, I've wanted to start up a blog. That day has finally come as today marks the premiere of The Lead.

While the lede (first paragraph) of a newspaper article should be direct and to the point, this blog will be all over the place. First and foremost, I wanted a place for all of my leftovers from stories that I cover. My first post after this introduction will look at the North Salinas High girls basketball team, which I covered Wednesday night.

In addition, I plan on writing about our local Monterey County high school and college sports teams, advanced statistics in sports, golf from Pebble Beach and the surrounding areas, motor sports at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, action sports like mountain biking and bicycle motocross, a touch of coverage and analysis on the pro and college teams from the Bay Area, and anything else sports related that's on my mind.

Thanks for checking out The Lead and here's to many posts to come.