SoCalHoops High School News

Div. I-AA 1st Round Matchups:
A Look At The Teams Playing--(Feb 15, 2000)

All of the first round games in this 64 team bracket (actually it's only 51 teams because of 13 first round byes to league champions) will be played tomorrow, February 16, all except one game, Peninsula @ El Rancho, which will take place today, February 15.    All game times are at 7:30 p.m.  Here's what we know of the first round matchups:

Peninsula @ El Rancho--This game will be played today, not tomorrow.  Peninsula (13-13, 5-9) was the surprise team of the season, with their upset win over Redondo, early in league play.  They've lost to most of the top schools in the extremely tough Bay League, and they finished 6th out of 8 teams. The Panthers don't have a lot of size, but they have four guys over 6'-4" who can all play, and two 6'-3" players with size.  The team is pretty young with an even mix of seniors and juniors, and three sophs on the roster. Of their last 10 games, they've lost 7, by an average of more than 10 points, the worst being a 20 point loss to Compton Centennial.  El Rancho finished third in the Del Rio League (11-14, 5-5), and like Peninsula, they don't have any real big inside players.  In fact by comparison, they're downright short.  #23 Mark Elisaldez (5'-11" Jr. G) is the team's leading scorer,averaging 21.7 ppg and 3.2 rpg.  The rest of the players are all solid role players, contributing between 7 and 10 ppg.  No real tall post player, but John Urrutia (*6'-4" Jr. C) at 250 lbs, can eat up a lot of floor space and he's averaging 7.6 ppg.  The second leading scorer is Bobby Miller (6'-2" So. F) with 8.7.   Oh, he's a wide-body too at 230 lbs.  An interesting matchup of two teams with plenty of guards and outside shooting.   The lucky winner gets to play Rancho Cucamonga (24-2, 8-2), the second place team in the Mt. Baldy League.  

Century @ Saddleback--  The winner of this game gets No. 1 Long Beach Poly.  Nuff said.  Still, this first round game is an intriguing matchup.  Century is one of those teams with a below .500 record both overall and in league:  They're 2-8, 11-16 and they finished next to last in their league.  They have no one over 6'-1"  and their leading scorer, at least according to the information they supplied the CIF-SS is scoring 15 ppg, and not coincidentally, that 6'-1" and leading scorer are the same guy, Chris Ferretti (6'-1" Jr. G).  They have some other good players, but they'll depend on speed and outside shooting to get it done.  Saddleback comes in with an overall record of 5-18 and 3-5, and were they not the alma mater of our OC Register buddy Steve Fryer, we'd have to ask what the heck they're doing in the playoffs, and considering that if they hadn't finished 3rd in the Golden West League, they wouldn't even be here.  Who has Saddleback beaten?  They beat Tustin twice, Westminster once and amazingly, they beat Bolsa Grande 80-73 back in December.  The team's leading scorer is Ismael Isais who is averaging 17.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, and 6.1 assists.  Manuel Pedroza is averaging 10.4 ppg and from there, it's anyone's guess who will step up.  Julian Gonzalez (6'-5" Sr. C) is averaging 8.1, so that helps too.   Again, the winner gets LB Poly, so once they get to the second round, the party's over.

Chino @ Fontana-- Fontana (17-10, 7-3) the third place finisher (some have them second, but they tied with Rialto in league standings) in Citrus Belt League came into this season with pretty high hopes, a lot higher than things have ultimately turned out.  Still, they are a tough team, led by Jordan Walker (6'-6" Sr. F) averaging 15.4 ppg and 7 rebounds, Cory McJimson (6'-5" So. F) and the three fab freshmen, Travante Nelson (5'-10" Fr. PG), Trayvon Williams (6'=5" Fr. F), and Wesley Washington (6'-2" Fr. G).  The big question is whether Michael Stephenson (5'-10" Sr. PG) will be with the team or not.  Still, even in their last game without him, the Steelers kicked some major butt, beating Redlands East Valley pretty severely.  Chino (3-7, 11-5), fourth in Baseline league comes in as an at-large team. They have two principal scoring threats: Brian Thompson (6'-0" Sr. G) who is averaging 13.9 ppg, and Jon Cryer (6'-3" Sr. F) who is getting 12.7 and 8.8 boards. . . . The winner of this one gets Alhambra on Friday night at Alhambra.

Canyon Springs @ Warren-- Another team that we thought would have had a better season was Canyon Springs, which wound up fourth in the Ivy League and with a record of 5-5 in league and 11-15 overall.  Jeff Stovall has some good young talent, but this year they just couldn't pull it all together all the time.  Canyon Springs is led by Jason Braxton (6'-3" SJr. PG) who is averaging 16 ppg and 8 boards, and freshman sensation Richard Cobbs (6'-5" Fr. SG/SF/PF) who is averaging about 22 ppg.  Charles Gibson (6'-2" Sr. G) is also tough and averaging about 11 ppg, and they've got a great supporting cast that just needs to play better ball to succeed.  Warren (20-6, 7-3) finished second in the San Gabriel Valley League and in any other league they would have been first, but then Dominguez doesn't leave a lot of room for error.  They lost To Dominguez the No. 1 team in the country by 13  the first time they played, but they've beaten just about everyone else pretty convincingly.  Curtis Williams (6'-4" Sr. G) is the leading scorer at 18.7 ppg, and Julian Assibey (5'-9" Jr. G) is averaging 11.2, while Aaron Hobbensiefken (6'-2" Jr. G) is at 11.6 ppg.  They have some excellent athletes, and this should be one of the better first round games.   The winner gets Oxnard, which won the Pacific View League

Lakewood @ Ontario--  Lakewood (10-14, 3-7) finished 5th in the very tough Moore League and comes into the playoffs as an at-large entry. They've got some good players, including Artesia transfer Armand Ivory (6'-2" Jr. G) who is averaging about 12 ppg, Tezzaray Banks (6'-7" Sr. C) who, at 200 lbs could put on some more weight but who is still averaging 6.8 ppg and 10 boards. Robert Hicks (5'-10" Jr. PG) averages about 14 ppg and is very strong too, while Adam Sahagun (6'-34" Sr. F) is also putting up decent numbers and playing good D.   Lakewood has played just about every tough team in California except for Mater Dei, and they've lost to the best of them, including St. Ignatius, St. Anthony (a D-VAA team), Poly, Jordan Compton, Gahr, etc.  Ontario comes in as the third place team in the Mt. Baldy League, at 17-8, and 6-3 adn they've also polayed a lot of tough teams, but they've clearly beaten some of the better teams in the region, and they've lost to a few too (like Bishop Montgomery in the Spot Up Classic). they've got some size with guys like Jonathan Levy (6'-6" Sr. F) who is averaging 18.8 ppg, and Jason Burrell (6'-2" Sr. PG) who is putting up great numbers, 21.5 ppg and 2.9 rebounds a game.  Marion Mitchell (6'-2" Jr. G) is the other offensive threat at 15.7 ppg. Ontario won the league last year and they're still very tough.   The winner of this game gets Rialto, the winner of the Citrus Belt League and if Ontario can pull it off this would be a great regional game against a cross-region rival.

Downey @ Santa Ana--  Downey is 17-8, 4-5 and finished 4th in the San Gabriel Valley League, losing to Warren, Dominguz, and Gahr in league both times.  They did beat Lynwoo, Whittier, Sonora, Lakewood, Kennedy, El Dorado, and they came pretty close to Chaminade and Crescenta Valley.  Oh, and they beat Chino and Pasadena Marshall too, so they're not going to roll over here. Joe Firas is the leading scorer at 15 ppg, and Steve Sawyer and Rene Herrera are the net two leading scorers at 11 ppg.   Santa Ana finished second in Golden West League at 10-13, 4-2, and they';ve also lost to some good teams and some not so good teams.  Despite the home court advantage, this will be a tough game for Santa Ana, especially if their leading scorer Darnell Graham (6'-4" Sr. F) averaging 18.5 ppg is having an off-night. Eliseo Munoz and Mike Mendoza are both also averaging double figures.  The CIF media form has 19 players listed on it, and considering that a team can only suit up 15, it's a bit hard to tell why all these freshmen were listed at all.  The winner gets Valley View on Friday.

Murrieta Valley @ Diamond Bar-- Murrieta Valley (13-12, 4-4) was tghe third place team in the crowded Sunbelt League and they've got some good, but not great players, including Peter Brown, Cameron Porter, Jose Yarid, CJ Richardon, Ike Williams, Andy Kinney, Willie Campbell Jimmy Shoup and some other players, and unfortunately they didn't list their leading scorers so we really can't tell.   Yes, I know we should just have these stats at the tip of our tongue, but nothing just jumps out at us looking at the roster.  Some size with Peter Brown at 6'-6" and Elliot Linsley also 6'-6".  Diamond Bar is 6-4, 14-11, and finished second in the Sierra League.  Mark Jecmen, Khalif Ford, Dominic Robinson, and Jason Greenway are names that spring to mind, as does Won Lee and Donte Nicholson.  Again, no leading scorers and we just don't have instant recall.  The winner gets Arroyo Grande, which has a lot more size than even Jecman at 6'-7", provided 6'-11" Phillip Johnson is healthy.

AB Miller @ Esperanza-- Esperanza comes in at 14-12, 6-4, and third in Sunset League; they feature Doug Brown (6'-4" Sr. G) who is hitting for 16 a game, Felix Loc (5'-9" Jr. G) who is getting 12, and Lloyd Walls (6'-9" Sr. F/C) who is pulling down 8 boards a game and getting 13 points, and at 225 he has good size.   Miller finished out the year at 3-7, 12-15 and foujrth in Citrus Belt League, and unbelievably, either they forgot to turn in their media form or someone took it out of the packet, because we've got nothing on them other than what you'll find in the Daily Articles.  The winner gets El Toro on Friday at El Toro.

Highland @ San Gabriel-- Highland's form somehow got misplaced, so we can't really say very much about them, but they did finish 13-12, 3-7 and fifth in the Golden League.  They'll be playing the second place team in the Almont League, which finished 7-3, 15-11, and like Highland, the CIF didn't have the media sheet for them on Sunday at the bracket meeting, so all we know is what we've been reading about them all year.  If you need more, search the Daily Articles' Game Results stories.

Santa Maria @ Crescenta Valley--Santa Maria finished fourth in a five team league at 4-6, 10-14, and they've played mostly teams from their own area, and a couple of teams from the Central Valley.  They have four guys at 6'-2, and one 6'-3 player, and unless they've got tremendous outside shooting, should be in for some trouble with CV (21-5, 8-2) which upset a very good Pasadena team and which has some outstanding players, including a big inside man in James Jenkins (6'-6" Jr. C) and another huge space-eater in Rusty Colburn (6'-5" Sr. F) at 290 lbs.  chris Tarne (6'-0" So. G) and Jimmy Goffredo (5'-11" Fr. SG) are the main offensive weapons, but there are some other excellent athletes.   The winner gets Leuzinger on Friday at Leuzinger.

Yucaipa @ Temecula Valley-- Yucaipa comes in at 10-15 overall and 4-6, 4th in the San Andreas League, and they've beaten some quality teams including San Bernardino in overtime (twice), butr they've also lost to a lot of good teams too, likke Rialto, San Gorgonio, Diamond Ranch, and Pacific.   Their leading scorers are Tom Carroll (6'-8" Sr. F) at 16 ppg (and we understand that he's a great football player too), Ben Osgood (6'-4" Sr. F) at 13 ppg, and  Matt Majors (6'-2" sr. G) at 12 ppg.  Temecula Valley comes into the game at 15-8, 3-3 in Sunbelt League where they finished second, and the Golden Bears will be led by James P:hillips (6'-3" Sr. G) who is averaging 21 pptg and Ryan Rentie (6'-2" Sr. G) with 12 ppg.  Adam Forrest Michael Louis, and Chad Moore also p;rovide some ovvensive and defensive spark.  Homecourt to Temecula.  Winner get Etiwanda on Friday.

Aliso Niguel @ San Clemente-- San Clemented finished 3rd in the South Coast Leageu at 14-9, 5-4  and the Tritons have Grian George (6'-5" Sr. F) at 15 ppg and Curtis Bush at 14 ppg.  They've got a lot of other guys averaging just under 10, including Gray Garrett, James Hartman, Tim Burnette, and Jordin Fleener, and they can certainly play.  The leading rebounder is Garrett with 8 boards a game.  Aliso Niguel comes in at 12-12, 3-4, finishing third in the Sea View League., and led by Brandon Sievers (5'-9" Jr. G) who is averaging 16.1 ppg. Sky Champbers (6'-2" Sr. F) is putting up 11.9 and 7.7 boards while Ryan Ross (6'-1" Sr. G) is getting 11.5 ppg.  The winner of this one gets the winner of the Glendora-Camarillo game (see below).

Camarillo @ Glendora--Camarillo is another of those at large teams that you've got to scratch your head and say "what were they thinking?"  At 10-14 overall, well, that's no too bad, but in league, they went 1-6, and lost every game to league opponents Hueneme, Oxnard, Rio Mesa, and they split with Channel Islands (which finished 3rd at 3-5, 13-13).  Still, even if they had a bad league season, anything can happen in single-elimination brackets, and they've got some good players.  Ian Caldwell (6'-1" Jr. F/G) is averaging 12 ppg and 5 rpg, while Jared Jungwirth (6'-5" Jr. F) is averaging 11 and 7. Ryan McCormick (6'-5" Sr. F/C) is also putting up decent numbe4rs at 13 and 7, but they really have no single player who dominates the opponents.   Glendora, notwithstanding that they didn't win their league, has been beating people right and left with a team of "nobodies" this year following the graduation of Casey Jacobsen.  The big question is whether Graham Miller, one of the Tartan's leading scorers will be back with the team pending some disciplinary problems.  We'll see.  The winner gets the Aliso Niguel-San Clemente winner.

Santa Ana Valley @ Jordan-- Long Beach Jordan continues to frustrate those who know the team.  Finishing second in Moore League 17-8, 10-2, the team is led by Travon Bryant (6'-8" Sr. PF) one of the few truly high D-I players remaining in the region who is unsigned.   He's got the usual cast of characters around him (we've written about them so many times, it's getting to be old hat, and if you want the roster, just check the HS Previews link on the left side of the site).  Santa Ana Valley tied for 4th in the Century League, with a record of 2-7 and 10-15 overall.  The Falcons feature no size really to counter Travon, bvut   they've got at least 15 guards who can run. Alex Landa is the leading scorer at 5'-9" and if the Panthers can shut off his scoring, they should not have too much trouble.  The winner gets the Santa Monica-Righetti winner.

Santa Monica @ Righetti-- Santa Monica, a surprisingly strong team which didn't do too well in the crowded and very tough Bay League, finishing 5th, with a record of 16-9, and 7-6 in league, was required to come in through the back door as an at-large, but with Jacoby Atako (6'-2" Sr. PG/SG), Martin Castro (5'-11" Sr. SG), Jon Folonis (6'-6" Jr. G), Casey Harrington (6'-6" Sr. F), and Pablo Dresie (6'-4" So. F) among the supporting cast, the Vikings look to make a serious run in the bracket.  Righetti has some size to counter with Caleb McCutcheon (6'-6" Jr. C) at 210 lbs, Robert Osorio (6'-5" Jr. F/C) at 230 lbs and 14 ppg and 10 boards,  Billy Comeau (6'-3" Jr. F) Sylvester Swain (5'-8": Sr. G) who is averaging 14 ppg and Steven Montepegue (5'-11" Sr. G) who is putting up 17 and 3 boards, this is a team that will take a lot of the Southern Section teams unfamiliar with them by surprise.   The winner gets Santa Ana Valley or Jordan on Friday at a location to be determined by a coin flip.

Glendale @ Channel Islands-- Glendale comes in at 11-13, 3-6 in the Pacific League, finishing 4th, and as an at-large team.  Gilbert Yousefian (5'-7" Sr. G) is their leading scorer with 18.6 ppg, while Tomik Iranosian (5'-11' Sr. G) puts up 11.1, and Eddie Karibyan (5'-11" Sr. G) is averaging 12 ppg.   Don't forget Erik Petrosyan (6'-2" Sr. F) with 11.3.  or Vartan Amayakyan's (6'-2" Sr. C) 7 boards a game, the team leader in rebounds. Channel Islands  finished 12-12, 3-4 in the Pacific View League, good enough for third, and they're led by Manny Berrelleza (6'-2" Jr. F) who is putting up 14.8 ppg and 2.5 boards.  Their leading rebounder is Mike Keddington (6'-6" Sr. C) who is scoring 9.8 and grabbing 11 boards a game.   The winner gets Los Al on Friday at Los Al.

Millikan @ Upland-- Millikan finished fourth in the Moore League at 10-15, 5-7, and they come in with the same guys who got them here. Unfortunately, we don't have the media sheet from the CIF, because it was obviously not photocopied from the set we got, or somebody pilfered it.  In any event, if you need a scouting report on them, look at the Best in the West previews we wrote in December, because not a lot has changed.   Upland too is still the same team we featured in our HS Previews for this season (check the link at the left side of the site).   Upland is 18-7, and 7-3 in Baseline League, good enough for third, and they've had some excellent wins.  The winnner gets the Fountain Valley-Capo Valley winner on Friday night.

Chaffey @ San Gorgonio-- The last first round game in the bracket features Chaffey which finished 4-6, 11-13 and fourth in the Mt. Baldy League, and like some of the other teams here, somebody got to the media sheet before Thom Simmons could get our copy to us, because we don't have it.  We also don't have San Gorgonio's media info sheet either, so if you want to scout either of these teams you're on your own.  It's not going to make much of a difference either way, because the winner gets No. 2 Seed Eisenhower on Friday night at Ike.  Good luck.

And in case you forgot what the bracket looked like, here's another look again:

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