WILDOMAR — There are 12 enrollment-based CIF-Southern Section playoff divisions for basketball. The smallest is Division 6 for schools with enrollments ranging from 19 to 99.
Sitting atop the first CIF D-6 basketball poll of 2013 was Wildomar Cal Lutheran. It is not a typo.
Entering this week, the C-Hawks are 10-3 and 4-0 in the Arrowhead League, where they have won 17 consecutive games dating to February 2011.
Last year’s team played in the CIF D-6 championship game, won its first-round game in the Southern California regionals, went 12-0 in league and is without question the best team ever to come through Cal Lutheran, according to coach and athletic director Dave Peter.
This year’s team is not far behind.
“Between this year’s team and last year’s team, they are the top two teams we’ve had at our school,” said Peter, now in his 14th year at Cal Lutheran. “It would be fun to have a video game simulation.”
There are two primary holdovers from last season’s senior-dominated roster and both are primarily responsible for the C-Hawks’ historic run: Robert Riesenberg, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, and Ryan Smith, a 6-10 senior center. Riesenberg was the league’s MVP as a junior while Smith was named the league’s best defensive player. They both were first team all-CIF D-6 selections.
“What he doesn’t have in size as a 5-9 player, he’s going to make up on the court with his intensity,” Peter said of Riesenberg, who is averaging 14.8 points, 4.2 assists, 4.3 steals and shooting 39 percent on 3-pointers this season. “He’s a great outside shooter. He’ll pick your pocket, even if you don’t want him to. He’s a very feisty floor general and just understands the game.”
“He’s probably the most competitive kid I’ve had in any sport. He wants to compete and he wants to win. … I don’t practice against the guys anymore because I got sick and tired of him stealing it from me.”
As for Smith, Peter said he has improved tremendously over the past year, gaining strength and stamina while improving his footwork and mid-range jumper. Smith is being recruited by NCAA Division I schools, including Top 25 ranked Minnesota.
“I’d be willing to say he’s 20 times better this year,” Peter said. “He worked his butt off in the weightroom. He had not played much travel ball prior to last year. I think that was huge for him. Every single day he was playing basketball.”
For three years, Smith also played football for Peter as “a 6-8 tight end/D-end.” But not this past fall.
“Last year after basketball season, I went to him and said, ‘Look, you just can’t play football,’” Peter said. “‘You’re going to be 6-10 and your future is in basketball.’ He’s the first kid in my 14 years of coaching football that I ever said don’t play football.”
Smith, who said he gets his height from his mother, who is 6-foot and his father, who is 6-5, took an official visit to Santa Clara in the fall and is receiving attention from Cal Baptist, a Division II school, as well as the D-I schools — the University of San Diego, Idaho, Montana and the Golden Gophers, Peter said.
“They’re looking for a big man,” Peter said. “In this class, big men are few and far between, especially guys that can actually run the floor, shoot and pass.”
Both Smith and Riesenberg are from North San Diego County; Smith from Escondido, Riesenberg from Fallbrook. They both attended Lutheran middle schools and have been commuting to the tiny Wildomar campus since they were freshmen. Both agree that last year’s team was better. For now.
“There was better team chemistry last year,” Riesenberg said. “This year, we’re getting better. Every game we learn something new about ourselves.”
Smith is averaging 16.8 points, 13 rebounds, 4.8 blocks and shooting 57 percent from the field. In a recent league victory over Anza Hamilton, Smith had his first career triple-double with 26 points, 18 rebounds and 10 blocked shots.
“He’s improved more than any other player on our entire team,” Riesenberg said, before giving his buddy a little ribbing. “He’s able to jump now. Last year he couldn’t even dunk. This year he can throw it down, drop-step and throw it down. He’s gotten bigger, stronger, faster; everything has improved.”
Last season, the C-Hawks lost in the CIF D-6 title game to La Canada Renaissance Academy, 67-45. Renaissance has been moved up in divisions, leaving an opening for Cal Lutheran to perhaps exceed the heights reached by last year’s team.
“I definitely think we can win the championship this year,” Riesenberg said. “Just because Renaissance is out and I don’t see any other team that is as good as them.”
Peter is a little more cautious, even questioning the legitimacy of the No. 1 ranking.
“Honestly, there are probably six teams that can win it all,” he said. “Whether it’s No. 1 or No. 6 or 8 or 9. Whoever can stay healthy and put a run together. Being No. 1 is a nice pat on the back. It’s just a number and doesn’t really matter.”
