Palma-St. Ignatius hoops

 There's no doubt playing in the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs benefited Palma last year.
 Simply put, it faced no one better in the State Northern California Division IV tournament until it reached the state championship.
 As balanced as last year's Chieftains squad was, this one appears to be a better shooting team with reigning league MVP Jamaree Bouyea and sharpshooter Nikhil Manimaram.
 Opponents that continue to put an emphasis on Bouyea have paid a steep price as Manimaram has torched teams from the outside.
 St. Ignatius didn't win 19 games this year by accident. It rightfully earned the No. 2 seed in the Open Division -- although with games at mutual sites, I'm not sure how much a higher seed really means.
 However it did drop its last three games of the season in the West Catholic Athletic League to Mitty, Bellarmine and Serra.
 The Chieftains are just 1-4 in the Open Division, with three of those losses coming from teams in the WCAL.
 Palma will go into tonight's battle at Santa Clara High riding a 15 game winning streak, with just one of those games being decided by 12 points or less.
 Garrett Maker continues to get stronger for the Chieftains -- just a year removed from tearing his ACL. And Cameron Jones can neutralize opponents in the paint.