Starting the non-league season 1-4 certainly didn't raise a lot of eye-brows.
Yet, how the Aztecs finished the preseason has carried over into league. As the first half closes on Friday, they sit just a game behind defending champion Stevenson.
Soledad's 4-1 league start includes a win at King City -- just the second time in the program's 18 year existence that it has beaten them on the road.
Ironically, the Aztecs turnaround this season began with a win over King City in a tourney a month earlier. Since then, they are 8-2 overall.
Four different players have lead the team in scoring this year, anchored by Xenia Suarez and Jacky Saldana.
Soledad's chase for a title will include three home games in the second half against opponents that sit within a game of them in the league standings -- including unbeaten Stevenson.
I'm not sure Notre Dame was on anyone's radar before the season started as a title contender in the Pacific Division.
That 5-0 start in league play isn't a fluke as the Spirits knocked Watsonville from the unbeaten ranks with a 15-point win last week.
While four sophomores are carrying the offense, this isn't a team in transition. Kelly Kinion, Angela Leavitt, Grace Briley and Mariah Schalapfer can play.
Three of them had a year of experience under their belts from playing last season as freshmen on a team that won just four league games.
The unsung hero, though, has been senior Ally Tomasello, who plays tenacious defense and gets 10 or more rebounds on a nightly basis.
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