My Time Inside the Devils Playground (San Diego)

My Time Inside The Devils Playground

Some of us have been following high school basketball for a very long time. Some of us bared witness to some very good Hoover High teams under the iron fist of Coach Ollie. Some of us older fans might even remember those great teams that Dominguez High School produced in Compton California in the 90’s. Those Dominguez teams hung more banners than the National Democratic Convention Committee. For many of us high school basketball die hearts that calls California home, might think of Mater Dei of Santa Ana in the same respect as our East coast counterparts think of Coach Bob Hurley and the St Anthony Friars.

Every team mentioned above bears a striking resemblance to each other. These mentioned basketball programs will make most of us think of consecutive CIF state rings, Shoe contracts, and Coaches that garnered more respect than most college Coaches around the nation. However, if we are truly honest with ourselves about these great High school programs, we will remember the times that we join the ranks of the critics who absolutely mangled these programs with accusations of stacking their roster with premium in state and in some cases out-of-state talent. Up until the CIF created the “Open Division” in the CIF playoffs, a typical high school program will stand little to no chance of winning the “Big One.”

 It is not too often you will see a team that started from the bottom, with no highly touted recruit, rise to top of their city rankings in a very dominating way. Routinely, when a kid becomes a superstar on an average team, he is often persuaded to transfer to a team of equal or greater talent. We see this year after year. It is safe to say this procedure is the status quo of high school basketball.

This year, Coach Jesse Aguirre and his Sweetwater High Red Devils is one of the best examples that challenge the status quo. The Red Devils are not only winning but they are dominating. They are correctly showing that a team does not have to be stacked with top 150 talents to absolutely punish teams that might be more talented.

Currently Sweetwater is sitting very impatiently at number 4 in the city standings. They are now behind (1) St. Augustine, (2) Mater Dei of Eastlake, and (3) La Costa Canyon. Some might argue that Sweetwater should be on top of the polls. All three teams above Sweetwater have suffered defeats.

Not too much foundation can be laid about St. Augustine with the exception of the fact that they also struggled to beat a very average sometimes above-average Mission Bay team in their first encounter of the season.

Moving on, Sweetwater only close game of the season was against the very talented 19-3, El Camino high school. This El Camino team is home to nationally ranked point guard Devin Watson. El Camino currently has 7 players averaging double figures in scoring but Sweetwater still found a way to beat them by 6 points. Last week, Sweetwater beat a pretty good Morse Tigers team by 24 points. Do not let the margin of victory fool you one bit. Anyone in attendance could probably argue successfully that this game should be titled “Game of the Year.” in San Diego. Morse went blow for blow with Sweetwater for most of the game.

The fact that Sweetwater is just dismantling teams without a single player over 6’3 makes the argument even more compelling. It is also a fitting tribute to Coach Jesse Aguirre coaching acumen.

Arguably, currently Charles Cadua and Spencer Mattox are one of the best combo guards in the state of California. The stats does not make this a very far stretch. Charles is averaging 13.1 ppg and 8.0 assist per game, while his partner in crime Spencer Mattox is averaging 24.4 ppg and 6.3 assist per game. Even with fully understanding the number portion of the argument. You have to intake the fact that Coach Aguirre employs players that not only contributes, but at any given moment will take over the entire game. Case in point, during a very emotionally driven game against Morse, senior guard Alvin Imperial came off the bench to have one of the best 3 point shooting performances in recent memory. Alvin made an astounding 8 three pointers which paved the way for a Devil victory against a team that was not intimidated by the defensive pressure that Sweetwater brings from opening tip to the final whistle. On any night someone on the Sweetwater bench could anchor the team into a victory. I will admit that the multi-dimensional full court press that Coach Aguirre uses to batter a team into submission is their best offense.

In closing, it is hard to predict how the “Red Devils” season might end. Last year they were upset by the Eastlake Titans in a very controversial game. It is fair to say that anything can happen. Especially because these are just kids we are talking about here. Spencer can lose his cool because his shots are not falling, or because he is not receiving the ball due to increasing awareness of his success. Maybe the players will start believing the hype machine that is sure to come if they keep winning. It is possible that they can have a bad shooting night, or face an opponent that can deal with the defensive pressure and apply back. Maybe they will face an opponent with a few players in the 6 foot 4 and above category that will take advantage of Sweetwater lack of length.

These hypotheticals are very much possible during this stretch of the season and into the playoffs. With all being possible, it is hard to imagine Coach Aguirre allowing any of the above to impact an outcome of a game. I will not make too much off the fact that these athletes are genuine nice guys off the court. After each home game they go out of their way to greet fans and to thank them from coming out to the game. I have personally watched as Spencer walked up to fans he did not know and hug them although it would have been impossible for him not to notice they was heckling him during the game like he was a professional. This is all a direct reflection of his Coach. This teaching from Coach Aguirre expands outside the basketball gymnasium. Coach Aguirre is the Head Coach of a team that has a burning desire to compete. They fly around the court with reckless abandon and with little regard to others.  Raven Middleton almost took out an entire row of  bleachers during a game, while attempting to save a ball that was already clearly out-of-bounds.  This team does not complain about any call, no matter how terrible the call might be due to an attempt to make the game somewhat competitive. Opposing defenders always attempt to get Spencer and Charles out of their game which usually meets with little to no success. One of the major things that Coach Aguirre proves that most of the powerhouse programs cannot even dream of, is that when you actually develop not just the lead scorer, but when you develop an entire roster/program the correct way, little things like an off shooting night, terrible officiating, nor a pesky defender is going to rock the anatomy of the team into defeat. The Culture that Jesse Aguirre fostered will makes it almost impossible for a team to win, especially if they step foot into the “Devils Playground.”