can he defend? Russell Lakey scores 36

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SoCalHoops High School News

Can He Defend? What Does It Matter As Long As
He Scores 36 A Night--(Jan. 11, 2000)

We attended two games yesterday, but the one which was most fun was the Harvard-Westlake v. Chaminade game at Harvard-Westlake. Excited fans, exicted coaches, cheerleaders on both sides of the floor, lots of energy in the place.

And everyone was there to see the battle between Russell Lakey and Scott Borchart, including several college coaches, many of whom were there to see Lakey (but who might also have been taking a sneak peek at Borchart too). As for Lakey, most of the college coaches we talked to were trying to make a decision about what to do, i.e., whether to offer him or take a pass. . . Holy Cross, Boston College, LMU, Pepperdine, and even Cal (we didn't think they were recruiting Russell, and maybe they were really there to check out Borchart, but even with Shantay now a Bear, you can't have too many former Rockfish on the same team, can you?).

During the halftime intermission, one of the college coaches we know well, (who shall go nameless in order to protect not only his identity, but also his job), approached us and asked us, "Well, you've seen him play a lot. What do you think; can he defend?" We responded, "Well, what have you seen so far?" Other questions were posed, like "How does he get along with his teammates?" "Does he make everyone around him better?" But the one that the coach kept coming back to was "But can he defend.". . .

We gave him our answer, smiled, talked about a few other things, and when the second half started, the coach went back to his perch across the gym at the top of the stands on the opposite side of the gym. . .studying, watching, mentally making notes throughout the second half of the game. . .

When the game was over, we asked him, "Well, what do you think now, can he defend?" But before we could reply, another college coach standing nearby piped in, "Hey, if he can score 36 points a night, who cares?"

Indeed. Great point.

And by the way, yes, we do think he can defend. . . .

Again, this was a great game, and everyone was pumped and excited in gym at Harvard-Westlake. . . even Chaminade Coach Jeff Young was excited, but only temporarily as one of the refs gave him a T early in the second half, seemingly for looking funny at the ref. . . really, it was, in our view a sort of cheesy call, and we've seen this same ref now two games in a row at H-W games, and he's been equally bad for both sides. . . oh well, at least the players decided this one on the floor. Chaminade played well, except for a couple of key turnovers at the end on some interesting calls, but either way, it was one of those games that typifies good high school basketball. Crazy intensity, tough plays, hard situations, and a key player coming up with key shots at the right time.

As we said, we actually managed to attend several games last night, including two games in the Valley. First we saw the YULA v. Oakwood game, which was. . . well. . . the most we can say is that YULA won, which didn't completely shock anyone. . . Then we jetted over to Harvard-Westlake for the H-W v. Chaminade game. Got there about midway through the the second quarter so we saw the really good stuff which all happened in the second half of this one anyway. Some would say it was an ugly game (well, only if you're from Chaminade), others would say it was a big-play game, with a player who knows how to make the big plays getting it done when he needed to. In this case the big-playmaker was Russell Lakey who, with Harvard Westlake trailing by a point, 72-73, hit an almost magical three pointer with just 12 seconds remaining on the clock to give the Wolverines the lead, and the game. We say the shot was "magical" because from what we and a lot of others clearly saw, it was probably just a two pointer since Chaminade's Erik Johnson, who was credited for fouling Russell on the shot, was way inside the three point arc, lying on the ground at the time of the foul. . . interesting call, but it didn't matter, because either way, even a two point basket and the foul shot would have given the Wolverines a lead that Chaminade wasn't going to break. . . sure a two point lead might have made a difference, but in the end, now we'll never know. . . The basket put the Wolverines ahead by two, and sent Lakey to the line where he stroked his 13th consecutive free throw of the night, to give HW the three point lead for the win, 76-73. Chaminade managed to get the ball across half court, but then couldn't really get off the shot. Bzzzz. Game over. Harvard wins and delirious fans mob the team, and in the dog-pile, Eric Geffner, who managed to play a great game too, injured his ankle. . . it didn't look very bad, and he'll be back for the next game, but it was kind of a silly thing for the fans to do to their own players. . . .youth. . . it's wasted on the young.

Anyway, there were several reporters in the stands as well, including Eric Sondheimer, who wrote a pretty balanced account of the game which appeared in today's LA Times' Valley Edition. Here's what Eric had to say:

Lakey Handles Pressure With a 4-Point Play

ERIC SONDHEIMER , Times Staff Writer

For one unforgettable moment Monday night, Russell Lakey of Harvard-Westlake High looked like Michael Jordan--except he didn't stick his
tongue out. With his team down by one point to Mission League favorite Chaminade and 12 seconds to play, Lakey made a three-point shot from the top of the key while getting fouled. He made the free throw to complete a four-point play and finished with 36 points in the Wolverines' 76-73 victory.

"That was a phenomenal shot," Coach Greg Hilliard of Harvard-Westlake said. "There was one guy rolling under his legs, another with a hand in his face and he knocked it down." Lakey was carried off the court by 280-pound football player Alex Holmes as delirious Harvard-Westlake students celebrated their first victory over Chaminade in three seasons.

The game featured an extraordinary individual duel between Lakey and 6-foot-9 center Scott Borchart of Chaminade. Borchart scored 29 points, making 14 of 17 shots, and had 13 rebounds. Virtually every time he got the ball, he scored against the under-sized Wolverines (12-4, 3-0). Harvard-Westlake opened a nine-point halftime lead behind Lakey, who scored 18 points in the second quarter. At one point, the Wolverines led by 13 points when Borchart went to the bench with three fouls and guard Jeff Hufford and Coach Jeff Young of Chaminade were assessed consecutive technical fouls. But reserve guards Erik Johnson and Art D'Egidio got the Eagles (9-5, 1-1) back into the game with key baskets and strong defense on Lakey, who missed on 10 of his first 11 shots in the second half.

Chaminade took a 73-72 lead with 1:04 remaining on a basket by Ryan Arceo. D'Egidio made a steal, and the Eagles had a chance to extend their lead. But Tito Hill was called for an offensive foul with 26 seconds remaining, putting the ball in Lakey's hands. Lakey played all 32 minutes and made 13 consecutive free throws. He seemed to get a little tired, but in the end he knew what needed to be done. "Coach told me to use my legs and my wrist and it took care of everything else," he said. Chaminade made only 11 of 24 free throws and allowed the Wolverines to run at will. "It has to be a little bit wild and a little bit out of control," Hilliard said. "We could never stop Borchart, so once he scored, we tried to keep it fast-paced."

Here's the box score:

Chaminade.....17 18 24 14--73
Harvard-Westlake.....19 25 15 17--76

Chaminade (73)--Scott Borchard 29, Ryan Arceo 14, Erik Johnson 11, Tito Hill 9, Art D' Egidio 6, Hufford 4
Harvard-Westlake (76)--Russell Lakey 36, 6 assists and 4 steals, Craig Weinstein 14, Brian Coffey 7, Chris Hooks 6, Jon Karavas 5, Spencer Torgan 3, Kelechi Ogbunamiri 2, Austin Scott 3