Seems like basketball doesn't get quite its due during the regular season, between football running into December and the state wrestling finals being the same week as section basketball, but there's no doubt hoops is one of the more popular games around. With that in mind, here's an extended version of the boys basketball Year in Review.

2008-09 Kern County BOYS BASKETBALL

Overview: The season contained about everything you could hope for in terms of good teams, good players, good games and dramatics. Garces and Liberty were Kern’s best teams, and we got to see them play four (!) times. The Rams we knew would be good; Liberty, on the other hand, was coming off a lost 2008 where injuries hurt and things snowballed, plus it had a new coach. So it was a surprise when the Patriots won the final of the Garces Tournament against the hosts, then repeated the trick a few weeks later at Liberty. The third game was an absolute classic (get to that in a sec) and was again won by Liberty. So that means — of course — that it was Garces that finally took its victory when it really, really counted — the Division II section championship game. Stephon Carter went for 33 points and 19 rebounds with a broken hand (get to that in a sec, too) in that game, leading Garces to a 91-78 victory.
Elsewhere, Centennial’s solid squad ran roughshod through the SWYL in a down year for the league, then gave Fresno-Central fits in the Division I semifinals before falling. Bakersfield Christian won Division IV easily, then was the only Kern team to win a state playoff game. The Eagles’ run ended with a loss at Torrance-Bishop Montgomery in the D-IV state quarterfinals.

Best team: I’m going to go the cop-out route and say both Garces and Liberty deserve this spot. Both beat Centennial, which was unbeaten in the other league, so you’ve got to consider them one and two. Garces, with the super athleticism and spirit of Stephon Carter, Ryan Bush and Chris Dixon, passes the eye test more easily than Liberty, which relied on tough defense, sharp shooting and exquisite ball movement from point guard Sam Marcus. But Liberty beat the Rams thrice in the regular season. Is the fact that Garces turned it around in the D-II section championship enough to give this title to the Rams anyway? I say no; consider the whole body of work, and these teams were as even as even can be.
Honorable mention: Centennial, Bakersfield Chrisitan, Ridgeview, East

Best player: After more or less unanimously winning this honor the past couple of years, Carter had some competition here. In fact, I’m not so sure Centennial’s Cody Kessler wasn’t the top choice before Carter’s incredible playoff run, and Sam Marcus, Liberty’s exceptional point guard, was the SEYL MVP. Kessler is a guy we’re going to hear a whole lot of positive stuff about in the next two years in both basketball and football. But Carter, man oh man. If you watch him, you know how good of a player he is. Maybe you don’t know him, but you know he can play. But the cherry on top, at least for this season, was how he did in the playoffs. Quarterfinals vs. Porterville-Monache: Carter poured in 36 of Garces’ 68 points and added in 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Semifinals vs. Lemoore: 30 points, 17 rebounds and six assists as the visiting Rams held off the Tigers in a shoot-out, 92-81, all despite Carter having his hand stepped on in the second half, breaking a couple of bones. Championship vs. Liberty: We all know this one. Despite the hand getting worse by the day, Carter threw down his 33 and 19, then had to sit out the Rams’ state-tournament game against L.A.-Leuzinger. They lost by 34 points.
Honorable mention: Centennial G Cody Kessler, Liberty G Sam Marcus, Stockdale G Jordan Burris, Bakersfield Christian G Marcus Hall, Ridgeview C Kaylin Evans

Best game: I hate to keep going back to the Garces-Liberty well, but I’d be remiss if I went in another direction. This has to be Liberty’s third win against Garces. The Rams and all their fans thought the Patriots’ first two wins were a fluke, and they packed their little gym and made noise. The Patriots and all their fans thought Garces was arrogant and over-reliant on Carter, and they packed the other side of Garces’ little gym. There was a line of people that wrapped around the building that wouldn’t fit inside. And the game didn’t disappoint. The Rams jumped out early, but like in the other two meetings, Liberty hung around, clawed its way back and then won it at the end. This time, the big shot was Westin Hill’s banked 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining. That gave Liberty a 73-70 lead. After a timeout — during which two Liberty players spilled water on the court and had to quickly clean it up less a technical foul be called — Carter narrowly missed a game-tying 3 at the buzzer. The win gave Liberty an unexpected SEYL championship, and though Garces got the last laugh a couple of weeks later, this was the classic between the teams.
Honorable mention: Ridgeview 61, Stockdale 59; Garces 64, Bakersfield 54, OT; Centennial 63, Clovis 59, Division I quarterfinals

A look ahead: With the Stephon Carter era over (or at least moved on to Cal State Bakersfield), the obvious stars for next year are Kessler, Burris, Marcus and Evans. But who out of that foursome has the best support? Kessler loses Nick Jensen, an insanely productive big man. I don’t think Kessler’s slice-and-dice style is going to be as effective for Centennial unless someone can step into Jensen’s shoes. That hurts the Golden Hawks’ shooters too. Plus, there are rumors Kessler will be focusing on football only by next winter. Of course, there are also rumors he’ll be focusing on basketball only. We’ll wait and see.
As for Burris, he didn’t have a great team around him at Stockdale this year. Mostly it was young, though, and there should be enough talent there to make Burris’ senior season his best. We’ll see if that means the Mustangs can climb the SWYL standings. Ridgeview, with Evans, will also be in the way. The Wolf Pack loses Travon Wesson at point guard, but they’ve got enough talent in the backcourt there to fill out an AAU roster. The problem might be, as it has in the past few years, keeping all of the great players eligible. That leaves us Marcus. Liberty loses some parts, for sure — Calen Coleman, Cody Darling and Jeff Hicks — but with Hill back on the perimeter and another year of seasoning for a couple of frontcourt guys, Marcus can still make things churn there.
Among other teams, I’d really keep an eye out for Bakersfield High. They’ve slipped a bit on the local basketball radar in the past two years, but Tim Billingsley was great last year, and this is two years after BHS dominated the junior-varsity circuit with many of the same players. Garces also still has Chris Dixon, but the Rams will need time to adjust to life without Carter (and PG Ryan Bush).
Bakersfield Christian, even without Hall, is the team to beat in the SSL again, methinks.

Year in Review Index
July 1: Football
July 2: Volleyball
July 3: Boys cross country
July 6: Girls cross country
July 7: Girls tennis
July 8: Girls golf

Tomorrow: Girls basketball