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SoCalHoops HS Playoff News

LA City Section "Invitational Bracket":
Semifinals Tonight--(Feb. 28, 2003)

Not much attention gets paid to the City Section's "Invitational" bracket, and we also have to confess that we're as much to blame for that as anyone.  Why?  Because it's hard to get excited when one stops to consider that this tournament will determine which team gets to declare that the winner and champion is No. 17 overall among City Section teams.  It's further hard to get too ramped about this when you also consider the fact that neither the winner nor the runner-up in this bracket get to compete in the State Tournament, making this tournament the second cousin of the "Division VI" (as in 6) tournament which is held in the CIF Northern Section....the winner of which also doesn't get to go to the State tournament either.

Still though, all things considered, this tournament is pretty decent and has featured some good competition, and we don't mean to denigrate the quality of play simply because some admin types in the CIF have determined that these teams shall play in a self-contained tournament which doesn't qualify for the State tournament like every other playoff bracket now taking place all over California.    So what's happened since last Friday night and who is playing today?  Here's what we know:

The Semifinals will take place today, and unlike the City Championship bracket, they will not be played at arena-style venues, but will be played at the home court of the higher seeded team.  All games will be at 7:30 p.m. tonight.  Here's what's up:

Upper Half of Bracket:

No. 8 Jefferson @ No. 4 King Drew

Lower Half of Bracket:

No.  14 LA Poly @ No. 2 North Hollywood

Here's a look at the bracket:

City Invitational Playoffs 2002-2003

First Round
Friday
Feb
ruary 21

Second Round
Wednesday,
February 26

Semifinals
Fri
day
Feb
ruary 28

Finals
Saturday
March 8

No. 16 Wilson 57
@
No. 1 Jordan 69

No. 8 Jefferson

@

No. 1 Jordan

Jefferson

 

@

 

King-Drew

11:00 a.m.
@ GW Forum

No. 9 San Pedro 60
@
No. 8 Jefferson 82

No. 12 Chatsworth 68
@
No. 5 Grant 52

No. 12 Chatsworth

@

King-Drew

No. 13 Bell 44
@
No. 4 King-Drew 78

   

No. 14 Poly 57
@
No. 3 Gardena 56

No. 14 Poly

@

No. 11 Granada Hills

Poly

 

@

 

North Hollywood

No. 11 Narbonne 83
@
No. 6. Granada Hills 81

No. 10 Venice 78
@
No. 7 Garfield 71

No 10 Venice

@

No. 2 North Hollywood

No. 15  Marshall 31
@
No. 2 North Hollywood 40

 

First Round Games (Played Friday, February 21, 2003) Listed in Bracket Order:

Upper Half of Bracket:

No. 1 Jordan 69,  No. 16  Wilson 57 --Chris Johnson had 21 points and Jamal Washington added 15 for Jordan (18-8). Carlos Venegas had 18 points for Wilson.

No. 8 Jefferson 82, No. 9 San Pedro 60--

No. 12 Chatsworth 68, No. 5 Grant 52 --Alex Ingram had 21 points, five steals and four rebounds and Brandon St. Clair finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for Chatsworth (17-15). Max Hutch had 13 points for Grant.

No. 4 King-Drew 78, No. 13 Bell 44 --Marcus Rogers had 18 points, nine rebounds, five steals and three blocks, Jamaal Thomas scored 16 points, and Marvin Mills added 11 points, seven steals and seven assists to lead host King-Drew (18-6). Carlos Martin had 19 points to pace Bell (10-15).

Bottom Half of Bracket:

No. 14 LA Poly 57, No. 3 Gardena 56 --Gerardo Zuniga scored 16 points to lead Poly (13-13) over host Gardena (13-13). Carl Munns led Gardena with 12 points.

No. 11 Narbonne 83, No. 6 Granada Hills 81 --Christian Smith lead all scorers with 37 points, including two free throws with five seconds remaining to lift No. 11-seed Narbonne (12-14), which trailed by 18 points at the start of the final period. Freeman Anderson scored 25 points for host Granada Hills (10-15).

No. 10 Venice 78, No. 7 Garfield 71--

No. 2 North Hollywood 40, No. 15 L.A. Marshall 31 --DeAndre Lamar and David Durand each scored 14 points for North Hollywood (14-11) over visiting L.A. Marshall (12-14). North Hollywood will host Venice in the second round.


Second Round Games--Quarterfinals (Played Wednesday, February 26, 2003) Listed in Bracket Order:

Upper Half of Bracket:

No. 8 Jefferson 92, No. 1 L.A. Jordan 72 --Gary White had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead visiting Jefferson (12-10). Travis Lee added 18 points and 12 assists for Jefferson.

No. 4  King-Drew 75, No. 12 Chatsworth 58 --Jamaal Thomas had 16 points, Daniel Stewart had eight points, 14 rebounds and four blocks and Marcus Rogers had 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead host King-Drew (19-6), which led, 45-44, with three minutes left in the third quarter. Sterling Stegall scored 15 points for Chatsworth (13-13).

Lower Half of Bracket:

No. 14 LA Poly 70, No. 11 Narbonne 69 --Omar Castaneda hit a lay-up with two seconds remaining to lift visiting Poly. Gerardo Cuniga led the Parrots (14-13) with 25 points.

No. 2 North Hollywood 60, No. 10 Venice 52 --DeAndre Lamar and Beewee Vallesteros each scored 13 to lead host North Hollywood (15-11) over Venice (8-14).


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