SoCalHoops High School News

CIF Central Section Semifinals:
Details & Updated Brackets--(Mar. 1, 2000)

The Central Section CIF boys' playoff semifinals were all held last night, and there were a couple of shockers, including Fresno Hoover upsetting Bakersfield HS, and ending the high school career of Alfred Williams, and BHS coach Mark Hutson, who has been at it for 22 years also announced that he was retiring.   In any event, the finals in each division are now set, and like the rest of the games in the Central Section, each game will be played at the higher seeded teams' school.  No big arena games in the Central Section. . . why we're not sure, but we've been told before by Section Commissioner Jerry Laird that there's an issue of money and while the Fresno schools would undoubtedly love to play at an arena like Fresno State (if you can call it that) there's really nothing quite like the several venues that the Southern Section or San Diego Section enjoys.  So these guys will have to wait for the State Tournament to get to play in the big houses. 

Here are the details we were able to locate in the Bakersfield Californian and the Fresno Bee and some additional stuff that others sent us.  If you have more details, particularly of some of the lower divisions, send them in.  

Central Section Playoffs

Division I
Semifinals

Hoover 76, Bakersfield HS 70--Hoover High continued its upsetting run through the boys' basketball playoffs Tuesday night, beating Bakersfield 76-70 to reach its first Central Section final since the Patriots won in 1988.   Hoover, the No. 7 seed in Division 1, beat No. 2 Central last week, then the No. 3 Drillers on Tuesday. Next up is a date with No. 1 Clovis West on Thursday.  Tuesday's heroes were Brian Banman, who scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, and Dino Archie, who limited Alfred Williams to 17 points after Williams scored 39 last week against Redwood.  Hoover trailed 37-36 at halftime but took control early in the fourth quarter, building a 10-point lead.  Hoover made 16 of 27 free-throw attempts, 11 of 15 in the fourth quarter.  Javance Coleman scored nine of his 15 points in the first half. Matt Kemper had 11 rebounds and Todd Earnhardt nine. The seventh-seeded Patriots (23-7) used an opportunistic defense and took advantage of several BHS miscues to go on an 11-0 run during a two-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, turning what had been a 59-57 deficit into a 68-59 lead with 2:41 remaining. BHS (27-9) closed to within five points at 70-65 with 52 seconds left on a 3-pointer by guard Kyle McGuire, but the Drillers missed two shots and committed a turnover on their next three possessions to doom any possibility of a comeback. Fresno-Hoover made eight of 12 free throws in the final 1:13 to ice the game. After BHS senior Alfred Williams hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, cutting the Patriots' victory margin to seven points, Hoover's large, boisterous crowd stormed the court at BHS' gymnasium in frenzied celebration. Hoover will play at Clovis West, an 81-60 winner over Clovis, on Thursday in the Division I section title game. The Patriots upset second-seeded Central 54-51 in Thursday's quarterfinals to reach Tuesday's semifinals. Wiley and fellow senior teammate Mark Bruley were benched for the first quarter by coach Mark Hutson after both players missed a mandatory practice on Friday. Bakersfield's coach, Mark Hutson also announced his retirement as Bakersfield coach after 22 seasons. BHS built a 48-44 lead on a rebound and layup by Jason Jackson, who had 10 points, that spearheaded an 11-6 run with 1:54 left in the third. But then Williams, who scored a team-high 22 points, picked up his fourth foul and was forced to leave the game four seconds later. Without Williams in the game Hoover answered with an 8-0 run of its own to take a 52-48 lead at the end of the third quarter and grab the momentum back. Hoover's Brian Banman scored a game-high 26 points and teammate Javance Coleman added 15 points. As Hoover began to put the game away in the final minutes with clutch free-throw shooting, the Patriots' large contingent of green-clad fans began to chant, "We are No. 1."

Clovis West 81, Clovis 60--Star point guard Chris Hernandez sliced open his right thumb in a freak accident during coach Vance Walberg's morning physical education class.  But the top-seeded Golden Eagles still dispensed with Tri-River Athletic Conference rival and No. 4-seed Clovis 81-60 Tuesday night in a Central Section Division 1 semifinal playoff game.  Clovis West plays seventh-seeded Hoover, a 76-70 upset winner over No. 3 Bakersfield, in Thursday's championship. The Eagles, ranked No. 1 in the section, No. 6 in the state and No. 13 in the nation,   will be going for their fourth consecutive section title. They have routinely destroyed section opponents.  Hernandez was injured at about 8:30 a.m. As he leaned back in an old folding chair, the chair gave way, and he grabbed the bottom. His thumb was pinched in the hinge, almost cutting a tendon and requiring nine stitches.  The junior guard started the game, but he left when his taped thumb was hit and began bleeding with 5 minutes 56 seconds left in the second quarter. Hernandez returned with 3:22 left in the third quarter. Hernandez's absence seemed the perfect opportunity for Clovis, which trailed 24-19 when he left, but the Eagles allowed the sixth-ranked Cougars to stay close only for about a half.  Jackson opened Clovis West's second-half scoring with a 3-pointer and scored nine points during an 11-2 run that put the Eagles ahead 48-33 with 5:32 left in the third quarter.  The Cougars, flustered at times by the Eagles' tenacious trapping defense, scored the next six points and were within single digits with 53 seconds left in the quarter, but Hernandez made two free throws with 34 seconds left and Jason Walberg made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the right corner on a pass from Hernandez.  The shot gave Clovis West a 57-43 lead. Standout sophomore post player Charlie Rodriguez scored nine of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter as the Eagles pulled away.  Jackson scored 17 points. Hernandez and Walberg each had nine. Lenny McCormick had 19 and Chris Sims 15 for Clovis. 

Central Section Playoffs

Division II
Semifinals

Bakersfield East 81, Fresno Edison 63--The East High boys basketball team was quite familiar with its semifinal opponent on Tuesday. Fresh in the Blades' minds were two straight loses to Edison in the playoffs, including a 40-point blowout in last year's section title game. This time, East outscored Fresno-Edison 19-5 in the third quarter, to dominate Edison 81-63 and advance to the Division II championship against Foothill. Blades guards Robert Johnson and Andre Bryant scored 14 of the 19 third-quarter points as East turned a 40-32 lead in a romp. Bryant finished with 22 points and Johnson added 18. Better than the 19-point scoring outburst was the Blades' press.   East (16-13) used a smothering defense that caused 11 Tiger turnovers in the   third period, including four straight. The No. 2-seeded Blades converted the Edison miscues into 10 points. After Edison guard Michael Potts scored on a slashing drive through the East defense with 6:50 left to make the score 40-32, the Tigers went into a four-minute scoring drought.  Edison's next score was by Vincent Graves scored with 2:27 left in the period. By then, the Blades' lead had ballooned to 53-34. Adding to the Tiger woes, was Johnson's dribble penetration. The senior guard abused Edison's zone defense and scored on easy layups or kicked the ball out to open shooters. On defense, Johnson led the Blade press.  The Tigers (14-16) hung in game in the first half with their inside play. Potts and Gilbert Myles, who finished with 12 points apiece, attacked the inside with success, but failed to carry their solid play after intermission. East advances to the championship game Friday against Southeast Yosemite league rival Foothill, a 86-81 winner over Lemoore.

Foothill 86, Lemoore 81-- Top-seeded Foothill wore down the visiting Tigers with a relentless full-court press to advance to meet Southeast Yosemite League rival East in Friday's Central Section Division II championship game. The Trojans (18-12) split their two games with East this season. The Blades defeated Edison 81-63 in Tuesday's other semifinal match up. Led by center Anthony Robinson's 20 points and 14 rebounds, all five Foothill starters scored in double figures. Despite their balanced scoring, the Trojans needed a strong second half rally to put the game out of reach. After trailing virtually the entire game, Lemoore (13-18) scored eight of the first nine points to open the third quarter and take the lead, 37-35, when Lemoore's David Eoff sank a pair of free throws with 5:38 to play. The two teams exchanged leads until the Trojans closed the quarter with eight straight points to lead 58-50 on a driving layup by Richard Calloway with 10 seconds to play in the third. Adame called a timeout and his team responded. Two big 3-pointers by Demar Walton (10 points) and a pair of steals by Lorenzo Hernandez ignited Foothill. The Trojans closed the quarter with an 8-0 run and were never challenged thereafter. Hernandez finished with 13 points and 11 steals. It was the speed of Hernandez and Calloway that helped the Trojans pull away early in the second quarter. Hernandez had six of his eight first-half steals in the second quarter and Calloway's quickness and penetration led to several easy baskets. Calloway helped get the Trojans off to a quick start ­ literally ­ scoring four baskets in the opening period off a lightning quick move to the basket.  Calloway's passing was particularly evident down the stretch when he attracted the defense, setting up Robinson and Daniel Lee for several inside baskets. Lee had nine of his 17 points in the final quarter and also added nine rebounds. With the game seemingly in control, Lemoore came to life against Foothill's second unit and trimmed the Trojans' lead to 34-29 on a rebound basket by Jad Crusha. The Tigers' 6-foot-6 senior center John Randall led his team's third quarter charge with nine of his team-high 16 points. He also added 12 rebounds. Josh Corkill added 10 points and nine rebounds for Lemoore.

Central Section Playoffs

Division III
Semifinals

Washington Union 87, Wasco 55--Top-seeded Washington Union rolled to a Division III semifinal win, 87-55 over Wasco, with DeShawn Anderson scoring 37 points and DeShawn Stevenson adding 25 points for the Panthers (16-11). Washington will play host to second-seeded Selma in the finals. DeOntae Hall led Wasco with 11 points and Zach Martin added 10.  Displaying patience and discipline, for the most part, the Panthers roared past outmanned Wasco 87-55 Wednesday in Easton to move one victory away from their fourth consecutive Central Section Division IV championship.   Patience and discipline have not been terms often used to describe the Panthers. But, that was exactly what they exhibited in their 16th victory of the season. That is just what Peter Sharkey wanted to establish since taking over as the Washington coach two weeks ago, just one day before the final game of the regular season.  DeShawn Anderson scored a game-high 37 points and grabbed six rebounds.  Individual discipline was evident in Sharkey's first game two weeks ago, a nine-point victory over Chowchilla. In the layoff since, the practices have centered on team discipline.   There were a handful of times when Washington fired away over the Wasco zone without a pass. But, for the most part, the Panthers waited for the open shot.  Just one day after being one of 20 player selected to play in the McDonald's All-American game, DeShawn Stevenson put the teamwork on display in the opening minutes.  Stevenson made a jumper off the opening tip, assisted on a Charles Perales basket and made dunks after two steals off the press for an 8-0 lead. Anderson scored a 3-point play off another turnover to make it 11-0.  Playing on the perimeter, Stevenson finished with 25 points with nine rebounds and six assists. 

Selma 70, Sierra 64--Selma High used sharp free-throw shooting down the stretch Tuesday night to reach the Central Section Division III boys' basketball final, but now the Bears get the uneviable task of facing Washington.   Second-seeded Selma, which improved to 23-3, made 15 of 20 free throws in the fourth quarter to beat third-seeded Sierra 70-64 in the semifinals. Sierra finishes the season at 20-7.  Selma will meet division powerhouse Washington in the final Thursday. Selma was led by Estevan Murguia's 20-point performance.  Byron Woods had 17 points.  Josh Rempel scored 27 of his game-high 33 points in the second half for Sierra. But he was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with under 10 seconds left and missed 2 of 3.

Central Section Playoffs

Divsion IV
Semifinals

Lindsay 71, Garces 47--Jonathan Dial scored 19 points and Carlos Gomez and Kevin Greer both scored 12 points to lead Lindsay (24-5) past Garces (18-10) 71-47 in a Division IV boys high school basketball section semifinal playoff game on Tuesday. Keith Villalovos scored 14 points and Andy Taylor had 11 for Garces. Lindsay outscored Garces 23-5 in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Lindsay will face Corcoran in the championship game on Thursday.

Corcoran 54, Caruthers 47-- The fourth quarter proved pivotal as Jerry Moore scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter to help No. 2 Corcoran to a 54-47 win over Caruthers. In Corcoran's win, Jerrett Santos contributed with four blocks in the last two minutes. Todd Garcia led Corcoran with 14 points, and Adam Gonzales of Caruthers had a game-high 20 points.  The win puts Corcoran in the Division 4 finals for the fourth consecutive year and the sixth time in eight years.  

Central Section Playoffs

Division V
Semifinals

Laton 70, Mission Prep 55--At Laton, the top-seeded Mustangs pulled away from a 42-42 tie midway through the fourth quarter to beat Mission Prep 70-55.  Melvin Medeiros led Laton with 33 points and 16 rebounds. Matt Carpenter added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Aaron Kirchert had 12 points and 16 rebounds.   Medeiros had 13 points in the second quarter.

Immanuel 63, Strathmore 48--No. 3-seeded Immanuel beat No. 2 Strathmore 63-48.  Strathmore cut the lead down to six in the third quarter before Juan Garcia made a 12-foot jumper to start an Immanuel run that clinched the victory.  Bret Dewey scored 18 points and Armen Kazarian 17 to lead Immanuel.

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