by Joshua Rutsky » Mon Apr 10, 2017 1:30 pm
Rutsky’s Humbly Assembled Top Ten (RHATT) for AL Quizbowl Post State
DISCLAIMER: The list below is purely my opinion, total speculation, and probably should never be read by anyone anywhere for any purpose. You have been warned.
RANKING / PREVIOUS - TEAM - WHY?
1 / 1 - James Clemens - Winners of the ASCA State Championship, 1st@SMART II, WP, and Good Hope; 3rd at HIT; Sharath. The key to this team's success at state was not only some clutch play but also the increasing ability of the entire team to get critical toss-ups. That edge helped them sneak past Spain Park in the final, and gives them significant upside for next year if any of Sharath's teammates are returning with him. (I don't know grade levels, unfortunately.)
2 / 1 (T) - Hoover - 3rd place in the ASCA State Championship, 1st place at WIT, 1st WRK, Mt. Carmel; 2nd at CATT, WP, and Good Hope. Hoover has an incredible team this year, and unquestionably belong near the top of this list, but they lost head-to-head in the semifinals to James Clemens. Yes, it was a single match, and yes, it's hard to judge based on that--JC needed 3 games to beat Spain Park, and Hoover hasn't lost to SP all year. It doesn't matter. Until you prove otherwise, JC > Hoover.
3 /6 - Spain Park - 2nd Place at ASCA State, 3rd at SMART II; Top 5 at HIT; L to James Clemens and Springwood. Top 4 at LAMP and Good Hope. Spain Park was the surprise team at ASCA State, running through the preliminaries and beating good teams in the playoff rounds. You might argue they had an easier path to the finals, but that would be ignoring that they won the first game of that final against James Clemens, led the 2nd at tossup 18, and lost the third by five points. That's not luck. That's talent. Grady and Jack really stepped up for SP this week.
4/5 West Point - 4th Place at ASCA State. 7th at HIT; 3rd at WRK. Shorthanded at WP but finished 6th. Fifth place at Good Hope. Has anyone figured out West Point yet? This is a team that is streaky, capable of upsetting a top team but just as capable of falling to a weaker squad in a moment of poor play. Confidence is not lacking with the Parker twins, but depth is still an issue. I'd say that they would be a top two team for sure next year if both Hoover and James Clemens weren't returning their starters. As it is, they can be serious contenders with summer work.
5/3 Springwood - Quarterfinals at State, Quarterfinals at CATT; Top 5 at HIT; 1st @ Enterprise and LAMP; 3rd @ Good Hope. Venu gave it a run in his final ASCA state tournament; he has been a machine for Springwood since arriving on the scene 4 years ago. I don't know how they can replace him next year, but they still have nationals and a couple of state events to make a final mark.
6/ 7 - Sylacauga - Quarterfinals at ASCA State; 6th at HIT; Semifinals at LAMP. What happens when Will Hughes has another summer to practice?
7/NR - Indian Springs - Quarterfinals at ASCA State; 2nd place at LAMP invitational. Indian Springs has improved dramatically this year, and they seemed to actually want to play scholars bowl again. They have a new coach, but if they sustain interest, I expect to see them in the thick of things once again soon.
8/ NR - St. Paul's - Quarterfinals at ASCA State; 2nd at Aggie Academic Challenge. St. Paul's didn't benefit from an easy pool to make the playoffs. They lost to Springwood, but won against Buckhorn, Sparkman, Russellville and Vestavia Hills to advance. While they fell in the quarters to Hoover, they earned a spot here. Top scorer Daniel Lane is a senior, however....
9/4 Buckhorn - Did not make playoffs at State. Buckhorn started the season looking like one of the teams to beat in state, but they struggled during the year with youth issues and a lack of opportunities to compete against top teams. Don't take anything away from Matt Dean and his teammates; all of them got much better over the summer, and will continue to improve. They just had a tough State draw in a pool with Springwood, Vestavia, St. Paul's, Sparkman, and Russellville.
10 / 9 - LAMP - This spot could have gone to LAMP, Dothan, or Grissom, really, but I'm giving the nod to LAMP for two reasons. First, their losses at state both came to playoff teams -- Indian Springs and Hoover. Second, they have more experience than the other teams, and are better tested at this point. They'll win some matches at Nationals.
OTHER TEAMS WORTH NOTE: Grissom (upset James Clemens in preliminaries), Dothan (winners of the 6A title), Vestavia Hills (up and coming team with young players; their leading scorer, Walter Zhang, is a sophomore.)
Joshua Rutsky
Coach, Hoover High School, Hoover, AL