SoCalHoops CIF State Tournament News

CIF SoCal Boys Regional Finals:
All The Details--(Mar. 12,  2000)

These are not, of course, all the details from the Regional Finals which were played yesterday at the Great Western Forum (in the case of D-I, II and III) and at the Pyramid (in the case of D-IV and V),  but just those we could locate and find the time to write about given all the stuff happening this weekend (State Playoffs, Rockfish, Double Pump Shootout, etc).  In the case of the boys' Southern Regional Divisions I, II, and III games, we also have the complete stats which we got at the Forum;  we didn't get the stats  from the Pyramid, so the best we can do is to report those games and the narratives as relayed by some of our friends and the local media.

Boys Southern Regionals

Scores at a glance:

Division I Boys SoCal Regional Championship

Clovis West 71, Mater Dei 64--Chris Hernandez stepped to the free-throw line with 13.4 seconds left in the biggest  game in Clovis West High boys' basketball history, blood mixing with the sweat dripping down his face, and calmly made two free throws to seal victory.  Those two points gave the Golden Eagles a 69-64 lead over Mater Dei (Santa Ana) in the Southern Regional Division 1 final Saturday.   Hernandez made two more free throws with 7.2 seconds left for the final margin as Clovis West advanced to next week's state championship with a 71-64 victory over the Monarchs, No. 4 in the state and No. 11 in the nation, at the Great Western Forum.   The Eagles, the first Central Section team to reach the Division 1 state final, play De La Salle (Concord), a 44-36 winner over Jesuit (Carmichael), next Saturday at ARCO Arena.  Hernandez, who scored a game-high 20 points, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 23.5 seconds left, but the Monarchs turned the ball over with 14.9 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Hernandez's heroics.  Clovis West, No. 6 in the state and No. 13 in the nation, tied a state record with its 39th victory and won its 21st consecutive game.  Clovis West opened a 17-6 lead in the first quarter but trailed 49-39 with 5 minutes 5 seconds left in the third quarter. But 6-foot 7-inch sophomore Charlie Rodriguez, who struggled early against 6-11 junior Jamal Sampson and got into early foul trouble, scored six straight points to begin the Eagles' comeback.   Rodriguez,  battling the long-armed Sampson, had nine of his 12 blocks in the first half.  Rodriguez, who was charged with his second foul with 1:12 left in the first quarter, apparently adjusted his shot to get around Sampson, scoring 14 of his 17 points in the second half.  Hernandez, who required nine stitches in his right thumb before playing in a section playoff game a week and a half ago, reopened a gash near his right eye midway through the first quarter and twice had to leave the game to have the cut, suffered against Long Beach Poly on Friday, bandaged.  Rodriguez tied the game 60-60 on an inside basket with 5:14 left, then Hernandez gave the Eagles the lead 63-62 on a 3-pointer with 3:55 remaining. Then, Tyrone Jackson, who has had big games throughout the state playoffs, scored off a pass from Andrew Awad to give Clovis West what turned out to be the winning points with 3:29 left. Jackson made another basket to put the Eagles up 67-62. Cedric Bozeman, who led Mater Dei with 14 points, scored the Monarchs' final points with about 11/2 minutes left. In the Eagles' only other regional final appearance, they were crushed by Mater Dei, which has reached the regional championship a state-record 11 times since 1982, 71-51 in 1995.  Besides having tradition on their side, the Monarchs seemingly had an advantage after playing at Irvine, about 40 miles away, in Friday's semifinals. Clovis West made the trip from Fresno shortly after that game. 

Total FG        1st Half     12/42    286    2nd half     14/28    500    Game     26/70    371
3PT FG        1st Half 2/10    200     2nd Half    2/5    40     Game     4/15    267
Free Throws    1st Half    6/9    667     2nd Half 9/11    Game     15/20     750   

Total FG        1st Half     14/27    519    2nd half     14/22    636    Game     28/49    571
3PT FG        1st Half     0/4    000    2nd Half    2/7    286            Game      2/11    182
Free Throws    1st Half    6/7    857     2nd Half     0/1    Game      6/8    750

Division II Boys SoCal Regional Championship

Dominguez 75, Foothill 50--Despite the apparent loss of point guard Michah McKinney for the finals as he suffered a broken arm in a collision with the hydralift basket support, Dominguez center Tyson Chandler scored 25 points, had 16 rebounds and tied a state record for a playoff game with 14 blocked shots to lead the defending state-champion Dons at the Forum.  Dominguez (34-2) will make its fifth championship-game appearance in six years Friday against Newark Memorial at Arco Arena in Sacramento.  Chandler, a 7-foot junior, tied the record set by Darnell Robinson of Emeryville Emery against Colusa in 1988, according to the Cal-Hi Sports state record book.   Foothill (21-13) upset second-seeded Lakewood Artesia Thursday to advance to the regional final.  Forward Keith Brooks scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds for Dominguez, which outrebounded Foothill, 48-23, and blocked 21 shots.

Foothill 50

Total FG    1st Half    6/26     231    2nd Half     12/36     333    Game     18/62     290
3PT FG    1st Half    1/4    250     2nd Half    2/13    154     GFame    3/17    176
Free Throws    1st Half     3/4    750     2nd Half     8/11    727     Game    11/15    733

Domginuez 75

Total FG    1st Half    15/29     517    2nd Half     12/29     414    Game    27/58     466
3PT FG    1st Half     1/5    200     2nd Half     3/7    429     Game    4/12    333
Free Throws    1st Half    10/18    556     2nd Half     7/14    500     Game    17/32    531

Division III Boys SoCal Regional Championship

Bishop Montgomery 72, Morningside 59--The Craven twins led the way at the Forum as the Knights won the regional title for the first time. Bishop Montgomery (27-5) will play Pleasanton Foothill for the state championship on Saturday.  Derrick Craven scored 20 points and had six rebounds five assists and five steals against Morningside. Errick Craven had 18 points and nine steals.  Tracy Cathey scored 22 points and Dwayne Trotter had 17 for Morningside. The Knights will play the Northern Regional champion, Foothill of Pleasanton, for the Division III state crown next Saturday (2:45 p.m.) at ARCO Arena in Sacramento. Foothill, which didn't win its league, defeated Natomas of Sacramento, 68-55, in the Northern Regional final. Top-seeded Bishop Montgomery, which was playing in its first regional final, has had an unusual run in the postseason. Having beaten Centennial twice in the Southern Section championship game and in the second-round of state playoffs the Knights found themselves pitted against another familiar foe: Morningside. The Knights defeated the Monarchs, 62-58, in the semifinals of the Southern Section playoffs, the closest game they have had in the postseason. This time around, the Knights didn't need any late turnovers by Morningside in the waning minutes to pull out the victory. All they did was play their typical up-tempo, high-pressure game and fend off a couple Morningside runs. After the first quarter, Morningside twice cut the deficit to five points. And each time Derrick Craven responded. With 4:26 remaining, Morningside's Donte Tatum made a pair of free throws to cap a 7-2 spurt and cut the lead to 60-55. Derrick and Errick Craven proceeded to steal the ball on consecutive possessions, sparking a 12-4 run to close out the game. Errick, who scored five points in that stretch, finished with 18 points and, more importantly, nine steals. In all, the Knights recorded 18 steals and forced 24 turnovers. Monarchs guard Tracy Cathey, who led all scorers with 22 points, went baseline-to-baseline for a layup to slice Bishop Montgomery's lead to five, 35-30, with 2:07 left in the first half. That's when Derrick took the game over, scoring six points in a minute and hitting a jumper just inside the 3-point line at the buzzer to give the Knights a 43-32 advantage at halftime. Derrick scored 11 of his 14 first-half points in the second quarter. Point guard Kenny D'Oyen scored eight points, including five straight in the first quarter to start an 11-0 run. Leland Dodd came off the bench to add eight rebounds and six points, and Brian Pruitt had seven points and eight rebounds.

Morningside 59

Total FG     1st Half 12/22     545    2nd Hafl 9/31    290     GFame    21/53
3pt FG    1st Half    0/0    0     2nd Half    3/7    429     Game    3/7    429
Free Throws    1st Half    8/10    800     2nd Half     6/11    545     Game    14/21    667

Bishop Mongtomery 72

Total FG    1st Half      18/38    474    2nd Half     10/26    385    Game     28/6    438
3pt FG    1st Half    3/14    214     2nd Half     0/9    0     Game    3/23    130
Free Throws    1st Half     4/8    500     2nd Half     9/14    643     Game    13/22    591

Division IV Boys SoCal Regional Championship

St. Bernard 61, Crossroads 42--The Vikings took control with a 13-0 first-quarter run and led by at least six throughout the second half in the regional final at the Pyramid.  Brandon Williams had five of his 14 points during the run and Bernard McCrumby four of his 16. St. Bernard's 15-5 first-quarter lead was cut to 19-17 late in the second. However, Geoffrey Hooker had back-to-back baskets as the Vikings responded with six consecutive points and led, 25-19, at halftime.  The Roadrunners (25-10) remained within six midway through the third quarter until St. Bernard put the game away with an 11-4 run. St. Bernard (26-7) will play Tamalpais (32-2) in the state final Friday. St. Bernard (26-7) came out strong in the first quarter, going on an 11-0 run after Crossroads (25-10) scored the initial two points of the game. Joe Abrams hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 11-5, but St. Bernard went on a 5-0 run to end the quarter ahead by 11 points. What worked for the Vikings in the opening quarter did not in the second. St. Bernard double- and triple-teamed 6-foot-10 center Isaiah Fox, who scored a game-high 20 points, in the low post and it was effective in the first quarter. The Vikings also were able to control the boards and shoot well. But Fox took away the low post and the rebounding edge, which combined with poor St. Bernard shooting, cut into the lead during the second. Fox scored 10 of his 12 first half points to cut the lead to 19-16 with 2:58 left in the half. The Roadrunners actually got as close as 19-17, but the Vikings went on a 6-2 run to go into halftime with a six-point lead, 25-19. St. Bernard came out in the third quarter with a restored shooting touch and with Fox on the bench and former Division IV All-Southern Section player Felipe Williams in foul trouble, the Vikings outscored Cross roads 17-10 in the quarter. St. Bernard got the lead back in double-digits for good at 36-25 on a 15-footer by Kellen Haynie with 2:57 to go in the third. The Vikings extended the lead to 16 points in the fourth quarter by going on a 5-1 run to make the score 50-34 with 4:02 to play. Bernard McCrumby led St. Bernard with 16 points and Brandon Williams was the only other Vikings player to reach double-figures. Alaniz gave credit to point guard Chrismen Oliver, who scored seven points, but had 10 assists and four steals, for keying both the offense and defense. Another key for St. Bernard's victory, Alaniz said, was the defense holding Fox to just eight points in the second half and the rest of the Roadrunners to 7-of-40 shooting for the entire game..

Division V Boys SoCal Regional Championship

Price 72, El Cajon Christian 69--Clinging to a one point lead with 1:30 remaining Chris Alexander scored on a runner from the lane and and Drew Howard stole the ball on Christian's ensuing  posession and scored to give the Knights a five point lead and send them to their first ever State Championship game with a 72-69 victory at the Pyramid in Long Beach. However it almost wasn't enough as Christian HS of El Cajon went on a  three point barrage to cut the lead to 70-69 on a Chris Carter off balance one handed heave with 3.1 seconds remaining. Mychal Lynch calmly nailed two free throws to put Price ahead 3 and Justin Vander Werff's half court launch   fell short sending the Patriots home for the second year in a row from the Southern California Regional Championship game. The host Knights (32-1) built a 16 point third quarter lead and seemed well on their way to an easy victory until the 3 pointers by Christian, which hit 6 threes in the final stanza with 4 by Carter who finished with 24 points. Besides finishing strong the Patriots also started fast as they jumped to a 14-5 lead thanks to a couple of first quarter three's by Vander Weff (9 points). But it was price who responded with a 20-4 run to take a 25-18 lead and go into halftime up 10 thanks in major part to 9 first quarter points by Alexander and 12 first half points by Howard. Christian may have had the hot hand from the outside by hitting 12 three's for the game but had trouble down low as Othell Johnson got 16 points on an array of nice post moves and second chance shots. Tim Brown scored 19 points for the Patriots but starting center John Freiberg only mustered 2 and was hampered by constant foul trouble all day. Howard and Alexander both finished with 17 points for Price and Jermaine Jamison cotributed nine while being double teamed most of the day. Price moves on to play Hoopa Valley, an upset winner up north; in the State Championship next weekend at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

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