SoCalHoops High School News

High School Team Preview: West Hills
Chaminade HS--(Oct. 30, 2000)

Once again, in keeping our word that we're not going to include coaching bios this year in our previews: If you want to know anything about Jeff Young, Chaminade's head boys' basketball coach, you'll have to check our prior previews of the team.  The information can be found at these links for the 1999-2000 season, or here for the 1998-99 season, or here for the 1997-98 season.  And actually these links will also give you a pretty good idea about how this team has progressed and developed over the past few years.  Suffice it to say though that this team is coached by Jeff Young, and assisted by a number of guys, including Larry Albritton, Bryan Cantwll, Steve Collela, Chris Johnson and one of Young's former players, Chris Lawson.

Coach Young gave us some notes on some of the players and others, well, we either knew them or we just had to try to figure it out for ourselves.

Just to recap last season: Chaminade made it to the playoffs last season with a record of 18-7, (8-4 in league, with loses to twice to Harvard-Westlake and Notre Dame), not nearly the kind of record which many thought they would have at the end of the season. Chaminade managed a  third place finish in league, behind league champion Harvard-Westlake and Notre Dame.  Entering the playoffs, Chaminade easily defeated their first round opponent, South Pasadena, 60-36.    But then in the second round, they had the tables turned, losing to a steam-rolling Compton Centennial team which featured two D-I players, Ellis Myles (6'-7" PF) who signed with Louisville, and Anthony Coleman (6'-10" C/F) who signed with Xavier.  Chaminade lost the second round game, 51-49, and it was the second time the Eagles were defeated by    the Apaches, having played them at the Mission Prep Rim Rattler tournament in December, a game Compton Centennial won  60-54, the third loss for Chaminade in the early season.  Chaminade was a team last season that tended to go on streaks: After losing to Mayfair at the Rim Rattler tourney, they won their next six, then lost their next two to H-W and Notre Dame, before again going on a four game streak in league play.

It seemed to us (and this is strictly opinion, so take it for what it's worth) that Chaminade seemed to get off on the wrong track last December, losing four out of their first seven games, and perhaps that was due to the ambitious scheduling  (those losses came from teams like Compton Centennial, Oakland Fremont, Warren, and Mayfair).  Hopefully the schedule this year (see below) will be kinder to the Eagles.

Most of the names on this team are familar, some are also new.  Names we all know are Scott Borchart, Erik Johnson and Ryan Arceo.    Borchart has been watched closely since he was a 6'-8" freshman (and even before then), and while he has not grown much in terms of height in the last three years (Coach Young listed him at 6'-9" and that's probably with shoes on), he's gotten bigger (bulk-wise) and stronger, and not surprisingly, with an averge of 19.7 ppg and 10.8 rpg during the regular season last year, and being an All-CIF selection,  he was a well-sought after commodity by some of the colleges.  Scott recently gave a verbal commitment to play at Santa Clara University next year, and he is expected to sign a National Letter of Intent in about a week.  Many people felt that Scott could have been more highly recruited by bigger programs had he played more club and travel ball during the summer, but for whatever reasons, Scott felt comfortable not going that route.   He will certainly be among the biggest and most solid post players in the Mission League this year, and with Chaminade's combination offensive style of either pounding it into the post, or having a host of quick guards take shots from the perimeter or drive to the basket, this should be a tough team to beat. 

In fact, in our view, while a lot of people have figured Notre Dame with Cody Pearson (6'-4" Sr. SG/SF), Mike Luderer (6'-2" Sr. SG) and former Chaminade player Ruben Sanchez (6'-0" Sr. PG) as the team to beat in the Mission League, its our view that this may be really a two team race, with Chaminade being the team, at least on paper, which could once again prove to be the spoiler for a lot of programs who are looking to take a shot at the title.  Harvard-Westlake is unquestionably down from last year with the graduation of 9 seniors, including 4 starters, and a point guard, Russell Lakey (6'-0" PG) who will be a starter in the SEC this year at Vanderbilt, and the Wolverines will be rebuilding with only three players (Craig Weinstein, Austin Scott and Bryan Coffey) returning from last season's varsity.    St. Francis loses all their leading scorers, and while they have several players returning, notably Michael Jenkins (5'-11" Sr. PG) who averaged 15 ppg, they will have a tough time against a team like Chaminade.  Loyola, like Notre Dame, will challenge Chaminade with players like JP Elliot (6'-8" Sr. C), Sean Crosner (6'-7" Sr. C),  and good shooting from Matt Llewellyn (6'-3" Jr.. SG), and outside play from Omar Wilkes (6'-1" So. SG/SF), and the Cubs could be one of the most underrated teams in the league.  But the way we see it, it's really going to be a two, maybe a three-team race with Loyola perhaps in it for the duration.  Crespi, with the solid shooting of Ivy-League prospect Andrew Moore (6'-2" Sr. SG), and some largely unproven players like Allan Ellis (5'-11" Jr.  PG), Kingsley Anyanwu (6'-3" Sr. SG/SF) and Robby Koslowsky (5'-10" Jr. SG), will likely not have much size, and neither will Alemany, which is at this moment a complete unknown in the league.    In our view (and since these are our previews, we have no trouble expressing our views, but take them that way, for what they're worth), the league race will likely come down to a fight between Chaminade and Notre Dame, with Loyola and maybe Harvard-Westlake trying to play the spoilers. . . . but then, we could be entirely wrong, which is why they actually play the season, rather than just e-mailing in the results.

But back to the players:  Erik Johnson is a solid shooter, who can hit the open three or the long two, and he's a tenacious and tough defender.  Ryan Arceo is very similar in many respects, and he's been slated as one of several point guards, a position he played a lot last season. Whether he winds up starting at that spot, or comes off the bench, he will still be a solid ball-handler, able to pace the team and lead the offense.    The rest of the comments about the players come directly from Coach Young:

Jordan O'Gilvie - 6'1", 165 PG Sr. - Jordan is a second year varsity player with good athletic ability. He has worked very hard in the off-season to improve his offensive game. He shoots the three well and can really take the ball to the hoop. He can get up on the rim and dunk with two hands or one. This adds a nice dimension to our team and gives smaller less athletic guards a tough match up. Jordan is very strong in transition and will anchor a running style that suits the talent that we have this year.

Jon Todd - 6'7", 180 F Jr. - Jon is now coming into his own. He is getting used to his body and learning how to use it to his advantage. Jon has a nice shot from 15 feet and in and is so much stronger in the post this year than last year. He gives us another post threat and that should take a little pressure off of Borchart. Jon's confidence level is much higher this year and he is comfortable with the jump to the varsity team. He has also improved his athleticism and gets up to the rim very easily now. He has excellent rise in comparison with last year and is well on his way to being a strong factor on the court this season.

Will Sheslow - 6'0" 160 PG Jr. - Will brings a lot of skill to our "deep" team. He is learning the system more and more everyday and is becoming a nice fit into our program.  Will brings nice ball-handling and excellent passing ability to the team. His ability to find the open man is a huge addition to a very offensive-minded team. He is unselfish and can also hit the open three when left alone. His post entering ability is also among the best on the team and with two legit big guys in the paint this is a plus.

Jeff Hufford - Sr. 6'3", 175lbs, G - I think that Jeff may be one of the  most underrated players in the area. He has a complete package of scoring and defensive abilities.  He usually draws the opponent's best outside scorer and does a  very good job of frustrating him with good, aggresive, smart defense. This past summer he worked on his offensive game and really improved his outside shot to where he is a three-point shooter now. He always was able to take the ball to the hoop strong, but now his perimeter game is very strong and he  is more of a threat. The biggest change is that he came in this summer as a strong team leader. Not only by his example,  but vocally,  he has taken on a  role of leading this team toward our goals. He is a returnning All-Mission  League player (second team).

Gerrad Link - So. 6'0", 160 G - Gerrad is making a big jump from the freshman team to the varsity this season. He was the leading scorer last season for the freshman and led the team to a league championship. There is no question  that he is ready mentally and physically for this jump. Gerrad is very   capable of being a starter by the time the season begins. He,  like Hufford, has a complete game offensively and defensively. This summer he started many games for us and had great success shooting the ball from the perimeter. He is also a very good passer, especially into the post. Gerrad is also a starting wide receiver for the varsity football team.

Josh Jones - Jr. 6'2" 185 - F - Josh is in the mold of Justin Stewart. He is  a very aggresive, physical player who brings a lot of athleticism to the game. He is an undersized post player, using his physical style to great success. He will get a lot of rebounds and score some easy baskets for us around the rim. This summer he started every game in which he played, mostly at the four spot,   and found a great deal of success. Josh is very versatile defensively too. He can cover a perimeter player because of his quickness and he can cover a post player because of his strength. Josh is also the  leading receiver for the football team.

Three players we don't know much about are Chris Abi-Chaker, Victor Alfonso and Kyle Pietrzak.  Kyle was on the team last season, but rarely played, averaging about 1 ppg and 1.1 rpg, and he was used mostly as a defensive stopper.  Each of these three should provide some depth to the bench.  Likewise, Coach Young believes that each player on the team "is better then they were last year (and that is a plus) and the incoming freshmen are also very talented."  About those freshmen, Coach Young had this to say:  "Marcel Jones is a 6'2" guard who can shoot the lights out. He is ready to compete in our league and my be able to be a strong impact player right away. Marcus Everett is ready mentally and  physically. He can shoot the ball too. He is a lot like Cayce Cook, except he has the ability to shoot from the outside a little better. He is quick and can defend and is very level-headed and smart.  Adrian Aye-Darko is a solid all around player. He will be very good in the upcoming years. He can shoot well and is athletic. His best attribute right now is that he does little things great. He is a good rebounder from the guard spot and he always seems to get his hands on loose balls and deflects passes. All three of these guys make our team stronger and we should be a lot better then last years team because of their influence."

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