Division III-AA game details 02/17/00

SoCalHoops High School News

Boys Division III-AA First
Round Game Details--(Feb 17, 2000)

Here are the details, or at least as many as we could find from last night's first round games in Division III-AA:

Bishop Montgomery--bye

Banning 78, Granite Hills 56 --Mike Davis scored 11 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth period as Banning (16-12) defeated Apple Valley Granite Hills (11-13) in the first round of the Division 3AA playoffs at Banning's Nicolet Middle School. The Broncos (16-12) play Friday at Torrance Bishop Montgomery, the division's top-seeded team at 20-5. Wednesday's victory was Banning's first in the playoffs since 1993, when it reached the divisional semifinals. Banning opened the second half with a 11-2 run, and Granite Hills was in a 37-29 hole with 6:43 left in the third. Scott Foster scored six of his 13 points during the run, and Geno Randle tallied five. Randle finished with 10 for the game. Granite Hills, in its first year of varsity basketball, was led by Justin Kirschinger with 19 points. He kept his team in the game by scoring 10 of his team's 16 third-period points. Kirsch-inger's output cut Banning's lead to 39-36 in the middle of the third. Banning forced Granite Hills into turnovers and started scoring in transition in an 11-2 run midway through the fourth, in which Banning outscored Granite Hills 28-13.GRANITE HILLS (56) -- Strubing 7, Tasker 11, Maloney 1, Orr 1, Kiamco 6, Lay 5, Parkman 2, Lee 4, Kirschinger 19. BANNING (78) -- Foster 13, Randle 10, Malone 18, Harris 2, Davis 27, Conner 1, Jackson 2 Williams 5. Halftime Score -- Granite Hills 27-26. Three-point field goals -- Strubing 2, Tasker, Randle, Williams. Total fouls -- Granite Hills 18, Banning 24. Technical fouls -- Malone.

Pomona 53, St. Francis 51--The host Red Devils held off a late rally by the Knights to escape with the victory. Brett Mitchell had a 3-pointer with 32 seconds remaining in the game to bring St. Francis within 52-51. The ensuing inbound pass was intercepted by the Knights, but they failed to convert, and the Devils took over with 19 seconds remaining. Pomona's Oldell Howard missed the front end of a one-and-one attempt, and the ball was rebounded by Jeff Brown with 12.7 seconds remaining. St. Francis opened the game with eight consecutive points, but could not hold on as the host Pomona's boys basketball team rallied to win a CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA first-round playoff game, 53-51. The Red Devils were up by nine at half, but St. Francis fought back in the third quarter, hitting four 3-pointers and closing to two points entering the fourth. Spencer Smith scored six of his eight in the third for Pomona. With Pomona up by one, Kerry Mitchell was fouled after stealing the ball under St. Francis' basket. He hit one of two from the free throw line. St. Francis took a timeout with 3.1 seconds left and got off a shot but it hit hard off the backboard for the miss. Pomona was led by Antoine Russ' 19 points. The Red Devils will play Monrovia on Friday night. ST. FRANCIS (51) Brown 19, Jenkins 14, Mitchell 6, Vidarrazaza 6, John 2, Simms 2. POMONA (53) Howard 8, Holden 1, Madison 2, Smith 8, Mitchell 5, Brown 9, Mukti 1, Russ 19. St. Francis 17 7 18 9 -- 51 Pomona 15 18 11 9 -- 53 Total fouls: SF 19, P 16. Fouled out: Terrazone (SF). Technical fouls: none.

Monrovia 62, Costa Mesa 51--The Costa Mesa High boys' basketball team couldn't get past host Monrovia Wednesday in a Southern Section Division III-AA first-round playoff game won by Monrovia, 62-51. The game marked the end of a seven-year absence from the playoffs and the Mustangs' final record of 17-10 was just one victory short of the school record, set in 1966. Unfortunately for Costa Mesa, Monrovia was playing at a different level. The Rio Hondo League champions will take a 23-2 record into Friday's second round. The Wildcats opened the game by bolting to leads of 16-4, 26-11 and 30-15. But Costa Mesa began chipping away. With four players scoring, including a three-pointer by Ryan Naff and a three-point play by Rick Hatsushi, the visitors scored the final 12 points before halftime to trail 30-27. Shaun Ferryman hit a short jumper to open the second half, but Costa Mesa got no closer. Monrovia used 10 free throws to withstand a trio of Mustang three-pointers in the final period and hold on for the victory. Naff bowed out with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while junior Steve Whittaker also had 11 points. Hatsushi, whose aggressive penetration lifted his team, had eight points, four assists and four rebounds. Bryant Markson, a 6-6 sophomore, led Monrovia with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.

Gladstone 76, Diamond Ranch 68-- Despite having a starting center that stood just 5-foot-10, the Gladiators responded admirably against the bigger Diamond Ranch Mustangs on Wednesday night, getting double-figure scoring from three players in a 76-68 victory in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division III-AA playoffs. The Gladiators (20-2) advance to a second-round game Friday night at Morningside, which beat Santa Ynez Wednesday, 65-48. Gladstone played without 6-6 center Chris LaCount, who according to coach Gary Kilmer left the team for good after its regular season finale last Thursday. LaCount also missed the Gladiators' first seven games of the season, so they're used to playing without him. Still, he certainly could've helped against the Panthers, whose talented 6-4 forward, Daniel Knott, scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Gladstone made up for the size disparity with good shooting and defense, making eight of its 15 3-point attempts and forcing 23 turnovers. Junior guard Darrell White scored 16 points and keyed the Gladiators' halfcourt trapping defense. The Gladiators seemed a bit discouraged at the outset, when Diamond Ranch (12-15) grabbed a quick 16-6 lead. But Fernando Aranda's 3-pointer started a 13-4 run to close the quarter, and Gladstone trailed just 20-19. Gladstone took the lead for good on Ray Jones' two free throws with 2:36 left in the half, and led 36-32 at halftime. Aranda, who scored a career-high 23 points, took over in the third, scoring 10 points, including four to close the quarter. One came off a steal, the second on a nice scoop shot in the lane with 22 seconds left. Gladstone led just 53-49 entering the fourth quarter, but put it away quickly. Jones hit a 3-pointer, and then Dominique Nevers hit two free throws and a 3-pointer for a 61-50 lead with five minutes left. Diamond Ranch never got closer than seven after that. Nevers scored 15 points off the bench, and players like he and Aranda will have to continue their productivity if the Gladiators are to advance. The Gladiators forced 14 turnovers in the first half to get back in it, and they'll probably have to do at least that well on defense to stay with Morningside (18-9). A victory against Morningside will put the Gladiators in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season. Morningside finished in fourth place in the Bay League. Diamond Ranch had four players in double figures. Mike Criscione and Richard Coombs each scored 13 points, and Joe Davis had 10 in addition to Knott's 19.

La Canada 58, Nordhoff 52 (OT)--The Spartans, who had lost three of their past four games, came through on the road with the overtime win. La Canada found success from outside with 8 three points, led by Jordan Ballard's three. Greg Guadino led the Spartans with 15 points. Dan Niemann added 12 and Ballard had 11 for L Candada (15-12). For Nordhoff, Eric Bensley had 17 and Dustin Baier had 10 and 12 rebounds. Nordhoff finishes the season at 17-11. Scoring by quarters: La Canada 10 14 13 12 9--58; Nordhoff 11 12 13 13 3--52.

Harvard Westlake 76, Ganesha 70-- The fourth-seeded Wolverines rallied from an 11-point deficit in the first half, then held on for a 76-70 win Wednesday night. Harvard-Westlake plays at La Canada in a second-round game on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Wolverines (22-5) knew Ganesha (11-16), a late addition to the Division III-AA bracket, was better than its record indicated. But the Giants came out playing with more confidence and led 39-33 at halftime. For the first six minutes of the third quarter, Harvard-Westlake had the Giants reeling. Lakey, who finished with 33, scored five quick points and John Karavas and Austin Scott both hit key 3-pointers. The 17-4 run put the Wolverines up 50-43 with 2:27 left in the third quarter. Ganesha's Jeremy Starks opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 54 and the senior forward buried another shot from beyond the arc. David Tyus added another field goal to put the Giants up 61-58. But like they did most of the game, the Wolverines responded with a mini spurt. Lakey fed Eric Geffner for a layup. Scott, who started in place of injured guard Craig Weinstein, hit a jumper and Lakey pulled up for a 3-pointer to make it 67-63 with 3:58 remaining. While Lakey took over the game with his ability to penetrate and shoot from the outside, Hooks was Harvard-Westlake's blue collar worker. He crashed the offensive boards late for a putback with 2:03 left to give Harvard-Westlake some breathing room at 72-67. Hooks' 17 points was a career high. The 6-foot-2 Hooks and 6-5 senior post player Eric Geffner (12 rebounds and 16 points) dominated the smaller Giants on the boards. Ganesha junior guard Cedric Click led his team with 24 points but was held to just three in the second half. Weinstein is expected back for Friday's game. GANESHA (70) Click 24, Starks 15, Efeuberha 10, Tyus 13, Romero 8. HARVARD WESTLAKE (76) Scott 7, Lakey 33, Geffner 16, Hooks 17, Karvas 3 Ganesha 17 22 12 19 -- 70 Harvard Westlake 13 20 21 22 -- 76 Total fouls: G 10, HW 13. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none.

Corona Del Mar--bye

Northview 64, LB Cabrillo 55--no details on this game, not even from the LB Press Telegram. . . sheesh.

Verbum Dei 59, Estancia 56--Estancia's John Cantrell missed a three pointer in th eclosing seconds that would have tied the scored and host Verbum Dei won the first round game, and continues on into the second round with a record of 16-11. No other details of this game were published so we just don't have anything else to tell you.

Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 62, Workman 58--Notre Dame (21-6) squandered a 16-point second-half lead but held on. Workman (16-8), making its first postseason appearance since 1990, converted just 2 of 12 free-throws. Freddy Lemus had a chance to tie the score with 7 seconds remaining but missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Notre Dame standout Cody Pearson was plagued with foul trouble and scored 18 points in 18 minutes. Emanuel Butler of Workman scored 18 points. Center David Hungerford sealed the game with two free throws with six seconds remaining. Hungerford was fouled with 6.5 seconds left and the Knights clinging to a two-point lead against visiting Workman. He made both free throws to secure Notre Dame's 62-58 victory. It was the Knights' first playoff appearance since 1996. Workman, with no player taller than 6 feet 2, cut the deficit to eight points at the end of three quarters. Finally, with 7.7 seconds left, the Lobos were in position to tie the game. But Freddy Lemus missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw situation. Hungerford got the rebound, was fouled and clinched the victory. The Knights had missed three one-and-one opportunities in the fourth quarter to allow the Lobos to come back. But Workman was even worse from the line, making five of 14 free throws in the game. Mike Luderer led Notre Dame with 21 points, 18 in the first half when the Knights opened a 36-23 lead. Cody Pearson had 18 points. The heroes were the 6-6 Hungerford and guard Derrick Hennessy, juniors who played junior varsity last season. Hennessy made consecutive layups in the final 2 1/2 minutes to keep the Knights ahead and finished with nine points. Hungerford's free throws provided relief for Coach Rob DiMuro, who has taken a team that was 2-10 in the Mission League last season into the round of 16.

Compton Centennial 80, Santa Paula 33-- The host Apaches raced to a 45-15 halftime lead and then polished off the Cardinals (11-15). Senior forward Ellis Myles had 18 points and seven rebounds for Centennial (17-11), which wil face Chaminade on Friady at Chaminade in the second round game. Deion Davis scored 12 points and Anthony Coleman added 10 for the Apaches.

Chaminade 60, South Pasadena 36--Scott Borchart had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead Chaminade. After trailing by four with 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the Eagles outscored the Tigers 26-8 to take a 14-point halftime lead. South Pasadena's quickness proved to be no match for Chaminade's size. The 6-9 Borchart was often double- and triple-teamed throughout the game. Eric Johnson added 10 points and four assists for the Eagles (17-8), Art D'Egidio had 11 points. Abe Apraku had 11 points and seven assists and five rebounds for the Tigers (17-8).

Gabrielino 60, Azusa 42--The Eagles jumped out to a 21-8 first quarter advantage and never looked back during the 18 point win. Gabrilino (18-9) made seven 3 pointers and were led by Sean Maxey's 17 points. Hayat Lim added 12 including two 3 pointers. Azusa's Bruce Benitez led all scorers with 18 points. The Eagles will now face No. 2 seed San Dimas at San Dimas on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

San Dimas--bye