So with the regular season in soccer wrapping up in the next two days and basketball just a week behind and wrestling's league tournaments starting tomorrow with the SSL meet at Bakersfield Christian, is it too early to hand out awards for winter sports?

Well, yes. Yes it is. I always wonder about professional and college sports that hand out their regular-season MVPs and Cy Youngs and Heismans and such before the playoffs, but I guess I've come to grip with the fact that those are regular season awards. There are separate honors for those who shine when the lights are brightest.

So we'll take a cue from that at School House Zach. The following awards will be winter sports-wide. There's certainly room for argument here, but it's my blog and so no there isn't I'm right.

Most dominant team
Stockdale girls basketball — Yeah, there were some other choices here, but they all pretty much pale in comparison to the Mustangs, who didn't win a game by fewer than 17 points against Kern County competition and not by fewer than 23 within their own league.
Honorable mention: Those with undefeated league seasons thus far: Bakersfield wrestling (in duals), Centennial boys basketball, West boys soccer, Liberty girls soccer, Stockdale girls soccer, Bakersfield Christian boys basketball, Tehachapi girls soccer (with a couple of ties)

Biggest surprise
Highland boys soccer — Check out tomorrow's Californian for a story on the Scots, who went 1-10-1 in the SEYL a year ago and are now 7-2-2 with a chance to win the league title tomorrow (see more on that later). If the Scots win at home against Golden Valley and get good news from Liberty, where they need the Patriots to beat Bakersfield, and Highland is as improbable a league champ as we've seen around here in some time.
Honorable mention: Bakersfield soccer, in the same league, has had quite the turnaround. Also Liberty boys basketball, Golden Valley girls basketball, Foothill wrestling

Best athlete
Seth Hicks, Centennial wrestling — You can go back and forth on a lot of the sports (Stephon Carter or Cody Kessler or Kaylin Evans or Jordan Burris or Marcus Hall in boys basketball, Melissa Sweat or Jalei Kinder or Caitlin Bernardin in girls hoops, Mariah Alvidrez or Michelle Spinner in girls soccer, Hicks or Jonah Cruz or Greg Kapler or Brian Schoene or Angel Posadas or Marc Collier in wrestling) but Hicks is the guy who hasn't even been tested yet. He's the Doc Buchanan champion, he's the Gilroy-Mid Cals champion and he's undefeated at 135 pounds and a couple of more weekends away from being the odds-on favorite to win a state championship
Honorable mention: I just gave the entire list, I think, and with it, your candidates for athletes of the year in various sports (boys soccer is pretty wiiiiide open, I think). Guess I need to do a better job of keeping secrets

Best weekend
In the regular season? This one — Think about it. This is your slate:

Thursday — SSL wrestling finals, Bakersfield (10-1-0) at Liberty (11-0-0) girls soccer, Golden Valley (8-2-1) at Highland (7-2-2) boys soccer, Garces (8-1) at East (8-2) boys basketball

Friday — Stockdale (6-3) at Centennial (9-0) boys basketball, Arvin (6-1) at Bakersfield Christian (6-1) girls basketball

Saturday — SEYL and SWYL wrestling finals

Saturday or Sunday — Soccer's playoff seedings are announced

Tuesday (OK, long weekend) — Liberty (8-1) at Garces (8-1) boys basketball

Happy watching to all the prep sports fans out there.