SoCalHoops High School News

CIF-SS Boys I-A Bracket Update:
Quarter & Semifinal Results & Details--(Feb. 28, 2001)

We've been unavoidably pulled away from the site for the last few days due to some personal business, and to those who offered their condolences, thank you.  But life goes on, and so do the playoffs.  We've already reported the scores and the details from last Friday's quarterfinal games, but didn't get a chance to update the brackets.  So, with the semifinal games out of the way now and in the books, and the finals set for Saturday, here are the results from Tuesday's semifinals along with the completely updated bracket.

We'll have a complete preview of the final in this division, which will be played Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at the Pond between Mater Dei (28-2) and Corona Centennial (28-2). In the meantime, here's what happened on Tuesday in the semifinals and last Friday in the quarters.  The updated bracket can be found below following the semifinal details:

Quarterfinal Results (Details are at this link)

Mater Dei 105, Anaheim Canyon 77
Claremont 64, Arlington 55
Villa Park 74, Newport Harbor 61
Corona Centennial 80, Temescal Canyon 67]

Semfinal Results and Details:

Mater Dei 85, Claremont 61
Corona Centennial 62, Villa Park 48

Mater Dei 85, Claremont 61--As if it wasn't enough that Mater Dei won, and Cedric Bozeman was named to the McDonald's All-American team, both he and California-bound center Jamal Sampson (6'-11" Sr. C) were also both named to the Parade All-American Team.  Oh, and they also played a game on Tuesday, as Mater Dei overwhelmed Claremont (22-8) Tuesday night, scoring an 85-61 victory over the Wolfpack at Ocean View High School (Mater Dei's "alternate site") in the CIF Southern Section Division I-A semifinals.  Mater Dei (28-2) will play Corona Centennial (28-2) in the I-A championship game Saturday night at Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in an attempt to get their 15th Southern Section title.  Claremont hung in with the Monarchs during the first quarter, trailing by just three points.   But Mater Dei outscored the Wolfpack by 15 points in the second quarter for a 40-19 halftime lead. Claremont matched the Monarchs hoop for hoop early, thanks to the outside shooting of Micah Lambard. He finished with 22 points, including three three-pointers. Mater Dei held a 19-13 advantage at the end of the first quarter. But the Monarchs' defense tightened in the second quarter, forcing several turnovers that enabled them to get easy fast-break baskets. They finished the half with a 21-6 run.  Claremont outscored Mater Dei in the third quarter, but could get no closer than 13 points the rest of the game.  Claremont tried to make it close, starting the second half with a 10-4 run including three consecutive baskets by Lambard, but the Monarchs stopped the rally, scoring the last three baskets of the third quarter.  Jamal Sampson scored 24 points, including several thunderous dunks,  and shot 10-15 from the field, pulling down 10 rebounds. UCLA-bound senior guard Cedric Bozeman scored 22 points and pulled down eight boards, shooting 9-17 from the field. Mater Dei led by as many as 31 in the fourth quarter. Overall, Mater Dei shot 56 percent as a team from the field.

Corona Centennial 62, Villa Park 48--Jamaal Williams and Bryan Williams each scored 14 points to lead Centennial to the I-A victory. Centennial built a 29-10 second-quarter lead. Villa Park reduced the deficit to 36-32 with 4:30 left in the third quarter, but Corona held Villa Park to only 10 points in the fourth.  The Huskies (28-2) will now play No. 1  seed Mater Dei for the championship Saturday at Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, and it will be like Mater Dei playing Mater Dei, as two of the three Soderberg brothers all were on the Mater Dei roster before transferring and Jamaal Williams also transferred to Centennial three years ago from Mater Dei. The No. 2 Huskies built a 19-point first-half lead and the third-seeded Spartans never led.  Jamaal Williams led the early Centennial scoring with eight points and sparked a defense that blocked six shots in the opening 12 minutes as an overflow crowd of 3,200 howled. The Huskies built a 29-10 lead midway through the second quarter as they hit 14 of their first 21 shots. But Villa Park forward Sean Phaler then scored eight of his game-high 17 points in a 10-2 Spartans run at the end of the second quarter.  Villa Park still trailed 31-20 at the half.  In the third, Villa Park threatened several times, but never got closer than 4.  Sean Phaler and Brice Prather, who finished with 10 points and Kyle Egkan, who also had 10 points, helped fuel VP's offense, but they never had an answer for either of the two Williams. Villa Park did manage to cut the deficit to four points twice in the third quarter, but never led.  Matt Waldrip's jumper ended a 9-2 in the opening three minutes of the second half, bringing Villa Park to within 33-29. The Spartans hit just 3 of 15 shots in the fourth quarter as Centennial pulled away.     Villa Park's scoring leader Matt MacGinnis was held scoreless.

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