SPRING. When it comes to high school sports, there isn't another season like it — especially when it's playoff time.

Which is exactly where we are.

So the Buzzer decided this was as good a time as any to give a quick rehash of what has already happened and a snippet of what to expect in the coming days and weeks.

TENNIS: Last weekend, the North Coast Section playoffs began with the singles and doubles tennis championships held in Marin County. The East Bay Athletic League got off to a good start in what should be another very successful postseason for the league.

Monte Vista freshman Shaun Chaudhuri won his first two matches, dropped his semifinals match to eventual champion Thai Tu, then won his third-place match.

Chaudhuri was the best freshman in the section this year and will likely be the NCS favorite next season.

In doubles, Bryan Cox and James Hansen of San Ramon Valley finished second.

NCS team play will begin today with Monte Vista (No.2), Amador Valley (No. 4) and San Ramon in the field.

All three got good first-round draws, but after that — like all postseason tournaments — it gets a lot tougher.

Assuming Amador gets by Montgomery today, the Dons will likely have tennis powerhouse Alameda in the next round. Monte Vista and San Ramon will meet for the third time this year if the seedings play out, but then the Mustangs, who handled San Ramon easily in winning twice, will have their hands full

Advertisement
with a Piedmont team that has beat Monte Vista earlier.

GOLF: The Buzzer saw how good these kids were last week, and Monday's NCS South Qualifier put an exclamation point on that. Foothill ran away with the team title, and four other EBAL teams also advanced to next week's NCS Tournament.

The Buzzer expects at least two EBAL teams — most likely Foothill and San Ramon — to qualify for the NorCal Tournament with a top-3 showing at the NCS Tournament of Champions on Monday.

TRACK: League championship meets start this week to kick off the marathon of a postseason that won't end until the state meet the last weekend of the month.

Three to watch for:

-James Attarian (Dublin). The Cal-bound distance runner has the sixth-best mile time in the state this year, and his time of 4:14.28 is less than 2 seconds behind the leader.

-Dmitry Kislyuk (California). Kislyuk has the state's 10th-best time in both the mile and the 3,200 meters.

-Justin Miller (California). Miller is the No. 2-ranked pole vaulter in California with a top mark of 16-8 — 6 inches off the national best.

OLYMPIAN SCHOLARSHIP FINALISTS: The awards banquet, which is a combined effort by the boosters from Livermore and Granada high schools, is for the top scholar-athletes from the city of Livermore.

A $2,000 scholarship will be given to one girl and one boy, while the remaining five finalists all will recieve $500 scholarships.

And here are the nominees ... Boys: Scott Bueno, Granada, basketball and football; Brett Christopher, Livermore, basketball and baseball; Andrew Engdahl, Granada, wrestling, football; Jake Sylvester, Livermore, baseball; Brandon Fischer, Granada, swimming. Girls: Andrea Lagorio, Livermore, volleyball, swimming, lacrosse; Jessica Burton, Granada, track and cross country; Kayleigh Torres, Livermore, water polo, swimming; Erin Osborne, Granada, volleyball; Kelley Wilgus, Livermore, soccer and track; Rebecca Sabatini, Granada, volleyball and softball.

The banquet will be held at the Robert Livermore Community Center on May 19.

Best of the Valley

1. Foothill girls swimming — The reigning NCS champs wrapped up a perfect regular season and are aiming at a repeat.

2. Foothill boys golf — Anthony Machi shot a 71 to lead Foothill to first place at the NCS South Qualifier.

3. Amador Valley girls lacrosse —The Dons are the second-ranked team in the state according to laxpower.com.

4. Monte Vista boys tennis — With the EBAL title in hand, Monte Vista will now look to win an NCS team title — something it did in 2003.

5. Livermore baseball —The 11 runs the 'Boys gave up was an abberation. The Buzzer still thinks they are the East Bay's best, but we'll find out on Friday.

Game of the Week — Foothill at Livermore, Friday, 4 p.m. It will be the biggest baseball game of the year in the East Bay, and will likely determine the EBAL championship and possibly the top seed in the NCS 3-A playoffs.

The Buzzer, Kyle Bonagura, can be reached by e-mail at kbonagura@bayareanewsgroup.com or by calling (925) 847-2167. To reach the "Prep Corner" blog, visit http://www.ibabuzz.com/prepcorner.