(Prep2Prep takes a look at the top teams among North Coast Section and Central Coast Section squads, including always formidable Mitty):
It should come as little surprise to anyone that Mitty is expected to be one of the top five basketball teams in the greater Bay Area for 2014-2015.
The Monarchs have won league and section titles the past five years, have captured three NorCal titles in that span and have two CIF-State championships to their credit.
Despite only having one returning starter -- junior Ben Kone -- Mitty will be nicely re-loaded for another WCAL and post-season title run.
The Monarchs kicked things off well on Monday night, defeating Burlingame 61-40 in a CCS Sportsmanship Game (or "glorified scrimmage" as coach Tim Kennedy put it).
Kone had 13 points and 10 rebounds and 6-foot-7 sophomore Sebastian Much, a transfer from St. Margaret's High in Southern California, added 10 points. And the Monarchs don't even have all of their parts yet. Guard Dakari Monroe was among Mitty's top 7-8 players last season, but he's still involved in football where he is a game-breaking utility player. And 6-2 Kyle Peterson, a sophomore transfer from Leigh, will not be eligible until the start of league due to transfer rules. Kyle is the brother of graduated Mitty star Connor Peterson.
Kennedy was only partially pleased with his team's effort on Monday night against the Panthers who made last season's CCS Open Division tournament.
"We had some good moments where we pounded it inside and some moments where we were sloppy on offense or had breakdowns on defense," Kennedy said. "But we got better (Monday night) and that's our goal. We still have a lot to work on."
Other key players for Mitty are returnees Sam Serra, Cameron Korb and Michael Scott. Serra and Korb are varsity returnees and Scott is up from a competitive junior varsity team.
The guard spots are an issue for Mitty. Last year the Monarchs had Division I players in the backcourt in Conner Peterson and Matt McAndrews. They're graduated now and players like Serra will have to emerge.
"Anytime you lost two top players like Connor and Matt -- those are tough shoes to fill," Kennedy said. "We may have to have a point guard by committee until we figure it out. Those spots aren't easy to fill when you've had college-type guards there."
Asked how he feels overall about the Monarchs, the former Serra High and Loyola Marymount star said: "We have some good pieces and we know it will be a challenge with our schedule and the league we play in. But it's a great group of guys and they're working hard to get better."
Mitty has its usual challenging and far-flung schedule of non-league games on tap. Among the contests are Sheldon at home on Saturday night, Cathedral Catholic-San Diego on Dec. 11 at Jesuit-Carmichael, El Cerrito on Dec. 20 at Cal State East Bay and coach Dave Kleckner's always-talented Etiwanda-Rancho Cucamonga team Dec. 26 at Rancho Mirage.
