campbell hall wins over montclair prep

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SoCalHoops High School News

Campbell Hall Beats Montclair Prep
At Home In OT--(Jan. 21, 2000)

What a game. Division V-AA babyyyyyy. Small schools, big time game. The No. 1 team (according to the SCIBCA CIF Southern Section rankings this week) and the No. 5 team, in a Delphic League showdown at Montclair Prep.

No. 1 Campbell Hall against No. 5 Montclair Prep on Montclair's home court. Campbell Hall's Hassan Bassiri (6'-1" Sr. SG/PG) and Jesse Foster (6'-8" Sr. F/C), together with their other senior starters Aaron Kerr (6'-0" Sr. SG) and Michael Womack (6'-2" Sr. G/F), and the lone freshman, Anthony Locke (6'-1" Fr. PG), matching up against Montclair's senior crew of leading scorers Josiah Johnson (6'-8" Sr. F), Jesse Bronner (6'-6" Sr. F), Tony McFadden (6'-4" Sr. SG), and Andre Freeman (6'-1" Sr. PG), and sophomore Will Sheslow (6'-1" So. SG). Two teams that can run the break, move the ball and score. Good coaches, great kids, and some tough matchups, not to mention a crowded gym with excited fans from both schools. All the ingredients for a great game. And it was.

We'll get to the end first, with the final result: Campbell Hall 68, Montclair Prep 62 (OT).

Before we get to the actual details of the game tonight, it's worth mentioning that three players definitely stood out in this one: For CH, it was Hassan Bassiri who finished with 30 points, 6 steals and only one turnover, including all 11 of Campbell Hall's points in the overtime period, and the Vikings' Jesse Foster, who finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. For Montclair Prep, it was Josiah Johnson, who finished with 28 points, and a ton of rebounds.

Overtime was not what anyone would have expected in this game, especially since Campbell Hall trailed throughout the game until the Vikings, in a great show of skill, senior poise and great execution of backdoor flex cuts, defensive ability and sheer determination, came from a 10 point deficit with less than 3 minutes in regulation, and tied the game at 57-57 with under a minute to play when the Vikings' Jesse Foster (6'-8" Sr. F/C) stole the ball from Montclair's Josiah Johnson (6'-8" Sr. SG/SF) in Montclair's backcourt, raced the length of the court doing a two-on-one fast court weave with Michael Womack (6'-2" Sr. G/F), and punctuated the play with a smooth but simple slam dunk.

Campbell Hall started off slowly, trailing at the end of the first quarter 20-10, as Johnson put on a clinic, hitting the first 8 points of the game before the Vikings' Womack scored to put CH on the board. Johnson had 10 in the quarter, lighting it up from inside and outside, while Campbell Hall came out tentative and cautious, turning the ball over and generally feeling cold. In the second quarter, it didn't look like much was going to change, as Johnson continued on his shooting spree, hitting for another 8, and he was joined in the scoring column by teammate Will Sheslow's (6'-1" So. SG) fast break layup and consecutive baskets by Jesse Bronner and Andre Freeman, to end the half with Montclair Prep leading 36-24 and the game all but over.

During the break, we actually contemplated leaving, but then realized that our car was jammed into the lot and there was no way out anyway, so we decided to stick around to see what would happen. Good thing we did, because anyone who left, missed one of the best comebacks of the year. Campbell Hall came out in the second half and proceeded to chip steadily away at the lead, going on several runs, but the Vikings could never get closer than 5 points in the third quarter, despite some great driving, jump stop exploding shots by Bassiri in the paint, and some really nice spin post moves by Foster. Campbell Hall also got some great performances in the third quarter from Robert Locke (6'-0" Fr. PG), who hit for 4 points in the period, and from Womack who scored again with a nice three-pointer early in the quarter. Montclair did its share of scoring, but just not enough, and by the end of the third, Campbell Hall had outscored the Mounties, 22-14, and the score was 50-46, with Montclair ahead by four, but just barely hanging on.

In the fourth quarter, neither team could really get any kind of a run going, but Campbell Hall again managed to outscore Montclair Prep 11-7 (at least that's the scoring we counted. . .) and it ultimately came down to a series of steals, fouls, and fast breaks by both teams, which resulted in missed field goal attempts and two trips to the line which gave each team the opportunity to win the game outright. As noted above, the critical series of plays began with the steal by Foster, an improbable pickoff if ever there was one, as the two opposing 6'-8" guys were out on the perimeter, Johnson dribbling the ball, running the break and ultimately, Foster getting the pickoff, swatting the ball almost out of bounds, but managing to just stay inbounds, and racing downcourt for the slam to tie the game at 57-57 with under a minute to play.

Both teams had chance to win the game outright in regulation, but neither could convert four free throw attempts in the final 23 seconds. Campbell Hall had the first shot at winning in regulation: With 23 seconds remaining, and the score tied at 57-57, Montclair fouled Womack, sending him to the line shooting two, and he missed both, causing Vikings' coach Brian Haloosim to turn, roll his eyes and exclaim to no one in particular "Why can't we make our free throws?"

Montclair Prep got the rebound off the second miss by Womack, and advanced the ball into their frontcourt, where the Mounties' Tony McFadden (6'-4" Sr. SG/PG) was fouled driving the lane with just 14 seconds remaining, and he too went to the line with a chance to win the game, but also missed both attempts from the line. Campbell Hall got the rebound off the miss, raced downcourt, missed a shot, and Montclair came back the other way but committed a costly turnover with with just 1 second remaining as Foster blocked two attempts by Josiah Johnson to score. Campbell Hall inbounded the ball under the Montclair basket, attempting a crosscourt pass on the inbounds, which was intercepted by Josiah Johnson, who managed to get off a 40' leaning bank shot which, even with a generously slow homecourt buzzer, hit the rim and bounced off as time expired to force the overtime.

While the game had mostly been Montclair Prep's during regulation, at least during the first 28 minutes of the game, the overtime period belonged entirely to Campbell Hall, and to their two senior leaders, Hassan Bassiri (6'-1" Sr. PG/SG) and to Jesse Foster, with some assistance and help from Womack and seniors Aaron Kerr (6'-0" Sr. SG) and Greg Drobnick (5'-10" Sr. SG ).

We don't know who is looking at Bassiri right now, but he can definitely play at the next level, and he'd make a nice mid D-I guard somewhere, perhaps a WCC or WAC school. Quick, explosive first step, tremendously good handle, and a great defender. He's got excellent vision, and is a great free throw shooter, obviously the result of a lot of repetitions and practice, something that's evident when he steps to the line, does his little ritual and then bangs home the free throws. This was only the second time we've been able to watch Hassan this season (the first was at the game against Campbell Hall) but he's improved tremendously from last spring in the Rockfish Spring League, and college coaches who saw him there will be in for a nice surprise when they see him again this spring. Again, we don't know who's recruiting him, but someone should be. . .

The same is true of Josiah Johnson. . . big body, seemingly a bit earth-bound, he can step out and hit the three, nail the mid range jumper and has an amazing ability to turn, locate the basket and can create his own shot very effectively. Like Hassan, we don't know who is recruiting him, but someone should be. Tony McFaddan, only playing in (we think) his second game since being declared academically eligible, looked good too, and he finished with just 4 points. We also saw some excellent defensive play from Andre Freeman, who really does have sprinter speed. He managed a steal against Hassan in the first half, and from the backcourt to the basket, he would have beaten even Tyus Edney's time. Freeman finished with just 2 points for the evening. Will Sheslow had a good fourth quarter, hitting a nice three and another layup to finish with 7 points on the night. Jesse Bronner also played well in stretches, and before he fouled out with 1:51 left to play in overtime, he managed 8 points. Neither team finished with a lot of assists, the one statistic that can use some improvement on both ends, but then, other than Bassiri and Johnson, most of the scoring came off of transition baskets without a lot of passing going on. Montclair Prep tallied only 8 total assists that we counted, with McFadden getting 2, and Jesse Bronner getting the other 5, and Josiah Johnson getting credit for 1. Campbell Hall had only 9, with Jesse Foster getting 3, Bassiri 2, Womack 2 and Locke 2 that we counted.

We know we're forgetting to mention a bunch of guys, but we're just going off of memory and our own notes from the game, and we're sure we missed some scoring. Fortunately, Eric Sondheimer was sitting next to us, and Jack Pollon was doing the book and will call the scores into the papers, so we know we'll get some accurate boxes.

With the win, Campbell Hall (now 14-5, 3-1 after tonight's game), moves solidly into second place in the Delphic League behind Crossroads in sole possession of first. The Roadrunners will play Pacific Hills on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Brentwood School . . . Crossroads is ranked No. 1 in Division IV-A, and Pacific Hills is ranked No. 2 in V-AA right behind Campbell Hall, so that will b an exciting game, and it could have implications about the league title.

With the loss to Campbell Hall, Montclair Prep falls to 12-8 overall and 2-3 in league, and is, depending on what happens on Saturday night with Crossroads and PH, either tied for third, or possibly in fourth, and in potential jeopardy of not making the playoffs unless they can reverse course quickly in their remaining five league games. . . and at least three of those remaining games will be against the top teams in the league (Whitney and Brentwood on the 29th and 1st of February will be fairly easy games, but then Montclair gets Crossroads on the 4th (at Crossroads), Pacific Hills at Montclair Prep, and Campbell Hall again at Campbell Hall in the last game of the regular league season on February 10.

Campbell Hall doesn't have such an easy road either, and they will play another six games, (they haven't played Whitney yet and get them twice, and then they'll play all other league opponents one more time). In addition to Whitney which should be no problem, the Vikings will have to also face Crossroads and Pacific Hills again, and Montclair Prep one more time. Because the Delphic League is a six team league, only the top three teams receive automatic bids to the playoffs. . . of course it's technically possible to qualify as an "at-large" team, but in reality, the CIF Southern Section hasn't allowed any "at-large" teams in Division V-AA more than two years, and with the playoff brackets bulging just with automatic bids from larger leagues and teams that qualify automatically, making it as an "at-large" in Division V-AA would be something of a minor miracle (This should be distinguished from what happened with Brentwood last year. . . which made it as an "at large" in Division IV-A, a much smaller division which did need "at large" teams just to fill out a 16 team bracket). Thus the remaining games for both teams take on definite critical importance.

A great game, and one that was well worth watching. Can't wait until the rematch on February 10, the last game of the season, at Campbell Hall.

See you there.