SoCalHoops High School News

CIF Central Section Boys Brackets:
Divisions I, II, III, IV & V--(Feb 24, 2000)

Sorry we're so late getting this posted, but we got it late on Tuesday, and in case you missed it, there were a lot of games played on Tuesday here in the Southern Section, particularly the boys' games, so we didn't have time to post these scores, which is a shame, because that means we missed out on the scoring from the Central Section Tuesday games.  Oh well, we'll try to fill these in, and if anyone from up that way can provide us with any missing scores, we'd greatly apprecitate it.  Either e-mail them to us, or post them on the message board.

In the CIF Central Section there are only five different divisions, like everywhere else in CIF with the exception of the Southern Section.   Here are the brackets and some of the results from the early rounds: 

Central Section Playoffs
Division I

There were two "wild-card" (or "out of bracket"  games as they're called in the Central Section) which were played on Tuesday, February 21, and we've got the scores from those games:

West 69, Buchanan 53
Stockdale 48, Arvin 42

Based on these results, the winners were inserted as the No. 15 and No. 16 seeds in the bracket, which looks like this:

We also managed to locate some of the first round game details in the Bakersfield Californian and the Fresno Bee.  Here's what we were able to find:

Clovis West 97, West 67--Clovis West used a balanced attack to hand West High a 97-67 loss in the first round of the Division I boys basketball playoffs. Five players scored in double figures for top-seeded Clovis West, led by Andrew Awad's 16 points. Fernando Rodriguez led the Vikings (15-14) with 16 points and seven rebounds. Jason Walberg made five 3-pointers The Golden Eagles (33-2), ranked No. 24 in the nation and No. 6 on the West Coast in a poll distributed by Associated Press, play East Yosemite League-champion Monache.  Anthony Aiello scored 10 points in the first half to help Clovis West take a 49-37 lead, then the Eagles put the game away with a 26-10 edge in the third quarter.  Clovis West got balanced scoring from Walberg and Chris Hernandez (15 points apiece), Anthony Aiello and Charlie Rodriguez (14 apiece), Andrew Awad (13) and Tyrone Jackson (10).  West earned the matchup against the Eagles with a victory at Buchanan on Monday.

South High 55, McLane 53--After the Rebels lagged behind Fresno-McLane for most of the game, Chris Jones nailed four free throws in the final minute to help South beat the Highlanders 55-53 on Tuesday. South (23-5) needed Jones to score on all four of his attempts from the charity stripe to escape with the slim victory. The Highlanders out-hustled the Rebels for most of the game and actually out-rebounded the taller South team 19-11 in the first half.  Emir Sheppard and Dante Delt attacked the boards and scored on a myriad of post moves, drives and follow shots. Sheppard finished with a game-high 21 points. At the half, Delt had accumulated 14 points and accounted for 10 of his team's rebounds. The visiting squad from Fresno had the same style of play as the five-seeded Rebels; often pressing after baskets and trapping South guards Myree Bowden and Jones as soon as the ball crossed mid-court. "We are a mirror image of (South) and use a 2-2-1 press and a 1-3-1 trap," Fresno-McLane coach Thomas Williams said. McLane entered the final period with a slim 38-37 lead and increased that margin to five when Delt scored in the lane off an entry pass from point guard Brian Garcia. He was fouled and the ensuing free throw made the score 45-40 with 5:34 left in the game. Garcia then attempted the ill-advised long lob pass to Sheppard on a fast break that was intercepted by Johnnie Lee. Jason Ruffus then took the ball and scored on a driving layup, cutting the lead to three and denying the Highlanders a seven point advantage. The two squads exchanged baskets and when Lee scored on a spectacular double-clutch drive from the baseline, the lead was cut to one at 52-51. Jones then took it from there. South travels to Clovis for a second-round game at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Clovis advanced by beating Centennial 54-51

Clovis 54, Centennial 51--The Centennial boys basketball team was ahead by six points with 3:40 to play in its first round playoff game against fourth-seeded Clovis. Then the Golden Hawks' lead was whittled to one point with under a minute left until it finally disappeared for good and Clovis rallied for the win. Garrett Brown, the area three-point leader, led Centennial with 22 points, including all six of his team's three-point goals. Clovis hosts South on Thursday.   Minuir Brar made two free throws with less then 20 seconds remaining to give fourth-seeded Clovis a 54-51 victory over Centennial.  The Golden Hawks led throughout until Lenny McCormick made a layup with 1 minute 21 seconds remaining to give the Cougars a 49-48 lead, but Centennial regained the lead with a minute left.  Chris Sims led Clovis with 20 points, and McCormick had 11.

Bakersfield 82, Mt. Whitney 45--At Bakersfield High, Johnny Wiley scored 22 points and Alfred Williams added 19 to lead the Drillers to a first round playoff victory over Mt. Whitney of Visalia. The win gave Bakersfield it's first ever 26-game winning season.

Redwood 54, Madera 43--Walter Meeks scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the first half to lead the sixth-seeded Rangers past the No. 11-seeded Coyotes 54-43 in the first round of the Division 1 boys' basketball playoffs.   Redwood plays third-seeded Bakersfield, an 82-45 winner over Mount Whitney, in Thursday's quarterfinals. The 6-foot 4-inch junior responded with nine points in the first quarter, including five straight on a steal and a basket followed by a three-point play as Redwood, ranked No. 5 in the section, went up 7-0 and never trailed. Then, after a 6-0 run pulled Madera to 16-13, Meeks responded with six points of his own, scoring twice on rebound putbacks.  Redwood point guard Chris Castillo also figured prominently, scoring 14 points and helping stifle Madera standout Christian Collazo, who scored 19 points before fouling out with 1 minute 32 seconds left.  Madera cut a 30-18 halftime deficit to eight and trailed 33-24 when the Rangers went on a 9-0 run.  The rally included two free throws when Coyotes coach Kent Albertson was charged with a technical foul late in the third quarter. Albertson apparently was upset because the Rangers inadvertently kicked the ball away from a Coyote and no call was made. Meeks scooped it up and passed to Castillo who scored easily. 

Hoover 95, Delano 51--Hoover built a 46-26 halftime lead, then outscored Delano 24-12 in the third quarter to pull away in the Division I quarterfinals. Javance Coleman had 23 points and Matt Kemper scored 10 for the seventh-seeded Patriots (21-7). No. 10 Delano (16-11) was led by Christian Melero's 18 points. Jovance Coleman scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half  Mike Urata made 3 of 4 3-pointers for the Patriots. 

Central 63, Stockdale 40--Andreas Bloch, a 6-8 exchange student from Germany, scored 24 points, including 12 during a big third quarter that broke open the Grizzlies' win over Stockdale (16-3) in the Division I quarterfinals. Second-seeded Central (20-5) led at halftime 30-19, then outscored No. 15 Stockdale 24-12 in the third quarter. Adam Wall added 12 points for Central James Cady led Stockdale with 18 points.

Central Section Playoffs
Division II

Reedley 86, North 74--At North, Rogelio Alvarez scored 27 points, including seven 3-point goals and Carlos Alvarez added 18 to lead the way for Reedley as they defeated North in a first round playoff game. Phillip Billington scored 29 points for North in a losing effort. Shaun Hopf added 16 for the Stars.

Tulare Western 76, Highland 45--Western outscored Highland 30-5 in the third quarter to break open the Division II contest that had the Mustangs leading 32-26 at halftime. A.J. Nichols had 10 points for Highland (3-22). Jess Washington had 22 points and Brian Nuñes had 12 points for Western (12-14).

Central Section Playoffs
Division III

Central Section Playoffs
Divsion IV

McFarland 69, Taft 65--Senon Ayon scored a season-high 33 points to lead McFarland past Taft in the first round of the Division IV boys playoffs. Ayon added seven rebounds and four assists for McFarland (19-5), who will play Corcoran in the second round. Derek Couch added seven points for the seventh-seeded Cougars. Ryan Pollard scored 24 points to lead tenth-seeded Taft (14-10), while teammate Robert Lumsden added 12 points.

Garces 75, Mendota 51-- Three players scored in double figures and 13 of the Rams' 18 players scored in the game as Garces (18-9) cruised to a 75-51 win over Mendota. Andy Taylor stood out the most for Garces among many outstanding performances. Taylor scored 13 points and pulled in eight rebounds for the Rams, both game highs. Anthony Esparza, just called up from the junior varsity team for the playoffs, connected on three crucial early 3-pointers to finish with 12 points to equal teammate Matt Robles, who also scored 12. Ike Maldonado and Jerry Leung both scored 12 for the Aztecs. Mendota kept the score close early on, with neither team leading by more than two points until 37 seconds remained in the first quarter with the scored tied 16-16. At that point, Garces converted four 3-pointers and a 3-point play on five consecutive possessions lasting into the second quarter to open up a 31-20 lead. The Rams outscored Mendota 11-4 in the final 5:18 of the half to blow the game open with a 42-26 halftime lead. Mendota was not able to find its form in the second half and Garces pulled away, leading 59-40 after three quarters. Garces will host a second-round game on Thursday or Friday against the winner of Tuesday's Templeton-Woodlake game.

Kingsburg 60, Kerman 58--Ryan Jackson made an eight-foot jumper with four seconds remaining to lift No. 11 seed Kingsburg to a 60-58 upset over No. 6 Kerman.  In a tight game that niether team led by more than seven points, Kerman's Lane Jorgensen made a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left for the third tie of the fourth quarter.  Trask led Kerman with 22 points and Ubaldo Garcia scored 18. Jackson scored 14 points in a balanced Kingsburg attack that featured four players in double figures, including Jesus Tapia with 14 points and 15 rebounds.  

Caruthers 73, Memorial 62--Caruthers took advantage of a five-point second quarter by Memorial to come away with a 73-62 victory.  Gentry Goode led Caruthers with 24 points and also pulled down 12 rebounds. Adam Gonzales added 17 points and 15 rebounds, Jorge Tinajero scored 15 points, and Jimmy Anderson scored 11.  Brian Wheelan (14 points) and Chris Vincent (13) led the way for Memorial.

Central Section Playoffs
Division V

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