SoCalHoops High School News

CIF-SS Boys IV-AA Bracket Update:
Semifinal Results & Final Preview--(Mar. 1, 2001)

The semifinals in this division were played on Friday.  We've already posted the results and the details, but for the sake of simplicity, here's what happened last Friday:   The updated bracket is below.

Crespi 62, Oak Park 43
St. Paul 60, Northwood 54

The semifinal wins by Crespi and St. Paul set up the finals, which takes place tonight at 5:45 p.m. at the Pyramid at Long Beach State. Here's what we know about these teams:

Crespi (22-6):

The Celts come into this game playing better this year than anyone expected them to be playing.  Today's edition of the LA Times wrote a feature about the team's chemistry problems last year, and anyone who visited our message board during the 1999-2000 season knows that Crespi was a hot topic, and not all of it was good.  Fortunately for coach Dick Dornan, his parents and players concentrated on getting it done on the court.  And they've managed to mold themselves into a real team this year, unlike last year's experiment in "me-ball".   Andrew Moore (6'-2" Sr. SG) has been the designate leader, and he came into the playoffs averaging 17 ppg.  Others like Allan Ellis (6'-1" Jr. G), Kingsley Anyanwu (6'-4" Sr. F), Charlie Shiebler (6'-2" Sr. C) and Paul Angel (6'-6" Sr. C) have helped Crespi to it's first ever Southern Section final game, at least during the era when Crespi has been playing among the smaller-enrollment division schools. Here's the full roster:

Eric Anderson    6'-3" So. G
Andrew Moore    6'-2 Sr. G
Allan Ellis     6'-1" Jr. G
Dino Fekaris    5'-10" So. G
Kingsley Anyanwu    6'-4" Sr. F
Casey Wong    6'-1" Jr. G
Steve Roopenian    5'-11" Sr. G
Rob Koslowsky    6'-1" Jr. G
Derrick O'Dwyer    6'-4" Sr. F
Charlie Chiebler    6'-2" Sr. G
Paul Angel    6'-6" Sr. C
Denny Witt    6'-1" Jr. F

St.Paul (18-13)

The Swordsmen are shorter, younger, and they come into this game with a record that is not as good overall as the Celts, but they are an excellent team and this will be a tough game for Crespi.  They've got wins over some much bigger schools, including Dana Hils (I-AAA), Irvine (I-AA), University (I-AA), and Serra, which played in D-VAA this year despite being the two-time defending IVAA champion.   The Del Rey League is every bit as tough, if not tougher than the Mission League, and the level of competition St. Paul has faced has been tremendous.  Del Rey League rival Bishop Montgomery hammered Crespi's toughest competition in Mission League this year, defeating Sherman Oaks Notre Dame by nearly 30 on Friday night in the III-AA semifinals.  Now St. Paul has also been hammered by Bishop (losing in their first meeting 86-32, and then again by 20 points, 68-48), but they've been tested by opponents such as Servite, Serra, St. Bernard, Woodbridge and Price.  The Swordsmen are led by Omar Cepeida (5'-7" Jr. G), Rudy Serna (5'-8" So. G), Dontay Holloway (6'-2" Jr. G), Fausto Gonzalez (6'-3" Sr. F)  and James Samarin (6'-3" So. F).  This will be a game of two relatively blue-collar type teams, both of which are well-coached and who play hard.  Here's the rest of the St. Paul roster:

B.J. Walker    5'-10" Sr. G
Omar Cepeida    5'-7" Jr. G}
Rudy Serna    5'-8" So. G
Oscar Soto    5'-109" So. G
Tigran Grigorian     5'-9" So. G
"Richard Rivers    6'-2" Jr. F
Kyle Farrell    6'-4" Fr. F
Dontay Holloway    6'-2" Jr. G
Raymond Cagiges    6'-2" Jr. F
Quinn Alvarez    6'-2" Fr. G
Fausto Gonzalez    6'-3" Sr. F
James Samarin     6'-3" So. F
Eric Gomez    5'-9" Jr. G

Again, the game is at 5:45 p.m. today.  See you there.

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