SoCalHoops High School News

CIF State Southern Regional Semifinals:
Boys' Game Details--(Mar. 9, 2001)

Division I

Santa Ana Mater Dei 61, Upland 56-- Mater Dei came back from a five point deficit to   beat Upland, 61-56, at Ocean View High in a semifinal game of the CIF Southern California Division I Regionals.  Mater Dei (31-2) will play Clovis West in the Division I Regionals final tomorrow at 8 p.m. at The Great Western Forum, and this will be a rematch of last season's Division I Regional final, a game that saw Chris Hernandez become a hero and secure his status as one of the best, and toughest point guards on the West Coast, and likely also locked up his recruiting at Stanford.  Last year Clovis West beat Mater Dei, 71-64, also at The Forum.   We were at the Kilpatrick v. Price game, so we didn't personally see this one, and so we've had to rely on what others have written about the game, including three papers who regularly cover these teams.   And there is not universal agreement, in fact there's some major disagreements about what actually happened at this game. What do we mean? 

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, which covers Upland wrote that "Jamal Sampson blocked a Sheldon Pace shot with about 25 seconds remaining, and Mater Dei held off Upland 61-56 in a thrilling CIF Division 1 Southern Regional semifinal Thursday in front of an overflow crowd of about 2,700 at Ocean View High School. "   The Daily Bulletin described the series as follows: "With 30 seconds remaining, Sheldon Pace had hit a layup to put Upland to within 58-56. The Highlanders (32-2) then stole Mater Dei inbounds pass but Pace's next shot, a runner in the lane was swatted away by Sampson, the Monarchs' 6-foot-11 California-bound center."

On the other hand, Steve Fryer of the Orange County Register, wrote that the shot by Pace was not blocked by Sampson, but was instead blocked by Mike Strawberry:  "Mater Dei was trailing, 52-51, with 2:30 remaining when Porter made a three-pointer. After an exchange of baskets, Porter hit a 13-footer after a nice pump fake to give the Monarchs a 58-54 lead with 46 seconds to go.  Upland's Sheldon Pace put in a driving, left-handed layup to cut Mater Dei's lead to two with 30 seconds left. Pace then stole the inbounds pass, and headed for the basket, with Strawberry and Brian Baker the only Monarchs back to defend. Pace swooped in for another left-handed layup. Strawberry soared to block it, driving the ball to Porter who was fouled. Porter made the two free throws with 20 seconds left to give the Monarchs a comfortable 60-56 advantage."

The Los Angeles Times seems to agree with Fryer's account: "Forward Mike Strawberry blocked a shot by Sheldon Pace that could have tied the score with less than 30 seconds left."

Ok, maybe the Inland Valley guys were watching a different game or describing a different play, but we're sure most people can tell the difference between Mike Strawberry, who is 6'-5" on a good day, and Jamal Sampson, who even on a bad day is definitely 6'-11". . . Whatever, Mater Dei won, and Upland, which had won the last 28 straight games, didn't.  But most everyone said it was an unbelievable game, memorable and anyone who saw it won't soon forget it.   Mater Dei, ranked No. 4 nationally, advances to the Southern Regional Finals on Saturday at the Great Western Forum.  The loss ends the amazing run for Upland, the Southern Section 1AAA champions, who had won 28 consecutive games.  Kirk Snyder scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed six rebounds.  Mater Dei (31-2) made 3-of-5 free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the victory.  Upland trailed by five at the end of the first quarter (19-14), but the Highlanders got going in the second quarter, drawing even at 29-29 in the final minute. They had a chance to take a halftime lead when Snyder was fouled attempting a 3-pointer as time expired in the half, but he made only 1-of-3 free throws, leaving Mater Dei up 31-30 at intermission. Neither team led by more than a point in the third quarter until Jason Harris and Pace's shots put Upland ahead by five. Upland stayed within striking distance despite the fact Snyder played outside the 3-point arc much more than usual, due to the presence of Sampson. Upland was in foul trouble in the fourth, and eventually it hurt them.  Upland starter Prentice Harris and sixth-man Lionel Davis started the fourth quarter with four fouls apiece. Davis, who played Sampson tough all night, fouled out with 3:17 to play.  After Davis fouled out, Upland took a 52-51 lead on a Jason Harris basket with 2:55 to play. But a Ricky Porter 3-pointer and a Sampson layup put Mater Dei up by four, and Upland was unable to pull even the remainder of the game. Ricky Porter finished last night's game with a team-high 20 points,and Cedric Bozeman scored 19, and 7 assists, while Jamal Sampson scored 15 points, had 15 rebounds and 8 blocks.  . 

Fresno Clovis West 82, Corona Centennial 57 --  Unlike the Mater Dei v. Upland game, where the papers couldn't agree about what happened, there was pretty much universal agreement between the account of this game in the Fresno Bee and the one in the Riverside Press Enterprise. . . in fact, no disagreement at all about what happened here:  The Golden Eagles, ranked No.2 in the state, beat the ninth-ranked Huskies 82-57 in a Southern Region boys' basketball semifinal before an overflow crowd at Clovis West.  Tyrone Jackson had 23 points and Jason Walberg added 21--including six three-pointers for Clovis West, which advanced to the Division I final for the second consecutive year.  Clovis West defeated Mater Dei in last year's final, but lost to Concord De La Salle in the state championship game.  Chris Hernandez added 16 points for Clovis West, which led by 12 points at the end of the first quarter and 47-27 at halftime. Clovis West opened up an 8-0 lead before Centennial scored. Nick Debban made three consecutive inside baskets, and Chris Hernandez scored underneath off a pass from Jackson, and the Huskies called timeout just 1:24 into the game.  Tyrone Jackson scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the first half, including four steals, and Hernandez had five steals and in all Clovis West had 14 steals in the first half. Clovis West led 28-16 by the end of the first quarter.  Jason Walberg, who had struggled in his last couple games found his shot against the Huskies, hitting six of the Eagles' 11 three-pointers in the game.   Walberg finished with 21 points.   The Eagles closed the first half with a 10-3 run for a 47-27 halftime lead.  Clovis West then scored the first eight points of the second half to increase the lead to 55-27 Centennial came back and scored the next nine points to start a 15-2 run through the rest of the third quarter as the Eagles went scoreless for about three minutes, but then it didn't much matter as Clovis West led 58-42 at the end of three.   Jason Walberg scored nine points and Debban had eight of his 17 in the fourth quarter as Clovis West went up 80-51 with 2:27 left.  Hernandez finished with 16 points while New Mexico-bound Jamaal Williams led Centennial with 17. Turnovers were the Huskies' worst enemy and Centennial committed 13 turnovers in the first half as Clovis West jumped to a 47-27 lead at halftime. The Golden Eagles' swarming pressure defense attributed to 14 first-half steals. CENTENNIAL (57) -- L.Soderberg 2, Sybesma 10, Reese 14, Ja.Williams 17, E.Soderburg 0, B.Williams 10, Gonzales 2, Smith 2. CLOVIS WEST (82) -- Hernandez 16, Walberg 21, Debban 17, Jackson 23, Carton 2, Parker 2, Net 1. Halftime score -- Clovis West 47-27. Three-point goals -- Reese 2, Hernandez 2, Walberg 6, Jackson 3. Total fouls -- Centennial 20, Clovis West 13. Fouled out -- L.Soderberg, Gonzales. Records: Clovis West 30-2, Centennial 29-4.

Division II

Compton Dominguez 77, Inglewood 55-- For the second time in less than a week, Compton Dominguez defeated Inglewood.  On Saturday, it was a loss by Inglewood in the CIF Southern Section finals.  Last night it was the State Southern Regional semifinal. Compton Dominguez High center Tyson Chandler, a potential lottery pick in the NBA draft, sustained an ankle injury during the Dons' 77-55 victory over Inglewood in a Southern Regional Division II boys' basketball semifinal Thursday night and was taken to the hospital for X-rays.  Chandler was injured with about seven minutes left while trying to grab a rebound. Dominguez led, 62-35, at the time of the injury.  Paramedics who were at the game attended to Chandler, who walked off the court.  Dominguez will play Redondo Union, a 68-63 winner over Lakewood Mayfair, in the regional final Saturday at the Forum. Interim head coach Steve Singleton followed his 7-foot-1 standout to the hospital after the game ended, where he was to have precautionary x-rays taken, and wasn't available for comment.   Chandler left the game with 12 points, 8 of which came in the second quarter, 8 rebounds, 4 blocked shots and 3 assists.  On Thursday night, Bobby Jones led Dominguez with 15 points, Tony Bryant had 11 points, and Keion Kindred finished with 10.  Jason Merdock had 5 and Alo Tao had 4. Dominguez controlled the game from the start, going on an 18-11 run in the first quarter which they stretched to 24-11 in the second quarter, eventually taking a 39-19 lead at the half on a Chandler last-second three-pointer.  DeAngelo Collins led the Sentinels (27-6) with 15 points, 8 in the fourth quarter. Ray Ray Reed added another 10 points for Inglewood, and Anthony Davis (6'-2" Sr. SG) also scored 10.

Redondo Union 68, Lakewood Mayfair 63 -- Redondo's (28-5) Dijon Thompson scored 24 points and had 12 rebounds, five assists and four blocks,  to lead the Sea Hawks to the Division II victory at home over Mayfair (26-5).   Redondo Union also defeated Mayfair in the Southern Section Division I-A final last Saturday by a similar score.  Josh Childress was held to scoring seven points below his average, and finished with 16 points.  Childress shot 6-of-18 from the floor, and was held to three just points in the first half and two points in the fourth quarter. Overall, Childress shot 8-26 on the night. Redondo's Dijon Thompson was guarding Childress for most of the game, and he finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. Mayfair's Edwin Draughan who finished with 17 points.  Mayfair fell behind by 11 points with 6:41 left but then went on a 7-0 run to cut the score to 57-53. On Redondo's next possession, Keith Ellison missed a jump shot, but Thompson got the rebound and the putback. Mayfair's Lewie Helton then missed and Thompson again scored, this time a three pointer made a 3-pointer to put the Sea Hawks ahead, 62-53.  Paul Meynen used his size to his advantage when he blocked a layup attempt with one minute on the clock as he and his Redondo teammates held on to a shaky four-point lead. Meynen scored just four points, but his defensive presence put him in a position to block four shots. His final block ended a 7-2 Mayfair run and prevented the Monsoons (26-5) from pulling within two for the second time  Mayfair cut it to one with a Draughn free throw, but then Dijon drove baseline, drew three defenders and dished to an open Adam Zahn for a dunk with 1:12 left. Mayfair was unable to score on the next two possession.  Thompson then hit two free throws with 31 seconds left to extend the lead. Childress missed a three and Thompson hit two more free throws to finish the game. Mayfair's Matt McCraw scored 13 points off the bench. 

Division III

Bishop Montgomery 77, Compton Centennial 65--Errick Craven scored 29 points and Fred Washington had 12 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Knights in the Division III game at home.  Leland Dodd had 15 points and seven rebounds for Bishop Montgomery. The Knights knocked out another win, beating Compton Centennial for the second time in less than a week, and the fourth consecutive time in the playoffs in the Southern California Division III Regional semifinal. The Apaches (16-17--who would be 27-6 without their 11 forfeit losses for using Tony Key, an ineligible player), lost their fourth consecutive postseason game against Bishop Montgomery (28-2). Errick Craven scored a game-high 31 points, grabbed seven re bounds, blocked four shots and had three steals and Leland Dodd added 15 points (9 in the second quarter) and eight rebounds off the bench as the Knights came back from a 20-10 deficit. Derrick Craven finished with just 8 points and five boards. 

San Diego St. Augustine 75, San Dimas 66 --San Dimas High's boys' basketball team was six minutes away from a date Saturday at the Long Beach Pyramid and six minutes away from the Division III Southern California Regional finals, but in that six minutes they blew a lead and St. Augustine outscored the visitors 27-6 to overcome a 12-point deficit on the way to a 75-66 victory for St. Augustine. As the San Diego papers described it, the Saints (St. Augustine) pulled off yet another amazing come-from-behind win, their second in a row as they beat the San Dimas Saints.   Second-seeded St. Augustine (22-6), winner of eight straight and 18 of the last 19 games will play Bishop Montgomery at the Pyramid on Saturday.  The Saints, who overcame a 10-point deficit with two minutes to go in their regional quarterfinal game, trailed 52-47 going into the final quarter on Thursday.  St. Augustine was down by as many as 12 with 5:56 to go before going on an 11-2 run to close the gap to 62-60 on a three-pointer by Eric Osmundson with 3:32; Osmundson finished with 14 points and played just one minute of the first half after suffering a broken nose.  He scored 10 points in the fourth quarter.  San Dimas finishes the year at 26-5.  Floyd North, who had just six points at the break, finished with 27 points and nine rebounds, including a layup with 1:52 left which gave second-seeded St. Augustine its first lead since the four-minute mark of the first quarter, 64-62.   The Saints (St. Aug) then held the Saints (San Dimas) to just a single field goal over the final 3:27.  Curtis Small added 13 for San Dimas, while senior guard Jason Greenlee scored a team-high 27 points. Osmundson finished with 14 points, 10 in the fourth quarter. St. Augustine started double-teaming San Dimas in the final four minutes, leading to a furious rally. It was capped when Oregon State-bound Floyd North hit a layup with 1:50 remaining to give St. Augustine its first lead since the opening quarter.  Five seconds earlier, Eric Osmundson, who is headed to the University of Utah on a scholarship, scored on a layup to tie the game at 64. St. Augustine's Rommel Marentez stole the ball on the Saints' ensuing possession, leading to North's score.  San Dimas had a chance to take the lead, but Greenlee missed a three-pointer with 1:20 left. After a St. Augustine turnover, San Dimas' Adrian Ferrera sent the ball down low and appeared to draw a foul, but no call was made.  Osmundson then took the ball the length of the court for a layup and San Dimas turned it over on the inbounds play, sealing the Saints' fate.   Greenlee's missed three-pointer was about his only glitch Thursday night. The senior scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds, including 12 points in the third quarter. 

Division IV

Bakersfield Garces 78, Encino Crespi 53-- Garces improved to 30-0, and remained as the only unbeaten team in California with the Rams win over  Encino Crespi (24-7) (Note:  The score we reported last night was also reported as 77-51 in the LA Times, but we're not exactly sure since we weren't there, and are relying on the Bakersfield Californian for the revised score).   Garces trailed 20-12 early in the second quarter, but then Garces outscored Crespi (24-7) 66-33 therefater. But midway through the second quarter, Robert Swift (6'-10" Fr. C) came off the bench while Crespi's Kingsley Anyanwu (6'-6" Jr. F) was in foul trouble and the Rams went on a 16-1 run over the next three minutes to put Garces ahead 28-21.  Swift blocked three shots in those three minutes and then dunked the ball to tie the score with 5:00 minutes remaining to play.  Derrick Norris made a layup one minute later after one of Swift's blocks, and Crespi never led again. Swift finished the game with nine points and five rebounds off the bench.  In the second quarter, the Rams hit 9-of-10 from the field, and held Crespi to just 5-of-13 from the floor. The Celts ended the third quarter on a 10-2 run to narrow the gap to 52-42 and Crespi actually pulled to within seven after Dino Fekaris hit a 3-pointer to start the fourth qaurter. Mark Robles, who had rolled his ankle in the St. Paul game finished with a game-high 25 points while Keith Villalovos, finished with 20 points for the Rams. Junior Derrick Norris scored nine points and pulled in five rebounds, sophomore Kyle Shiloh scored eight and had a team-high eight rebounds and Anthony Esparza, scored six points while grabbing four boards. For Crespi, Kingley Anyanwu finished the game with a team-high 15 points, but fouled out with 6:19 left in the game. Senior Andrew Moore added 14 points, but he picked up two fouls in 22 seconds to foul out with 3:23 remaining. Crespi coach Dick Dornan was hit with a technical foul with 1:12 left in the game.   Garces shot 57 percent from the field (29-of-49), including 69 percent from inside the 3-point arc (24-of-35). Crespi shot 39 percent from the field (23-of-59). Garces was also out-rebounded 12-5 in the first quarter, but finished with a 34-32 advantage. 

Santa Monica Crossroads 73, Santa Monica St. Monica 49-- Strange as it seems, there wasn't a single paper which covered this game, and our usual source for information on how St. Monica's has played, didn't send us anything, so we have nothing to report.  Isn't it amazing that a Santa Monica

Division V

Los Angeles Price 60, Malibu Kilpatrick 59-- Kilpatrick was assessed a technical foul with less than one second left for calling a timeout it did not have, and senior Andrew Howard made the second of his two free throws to give the Knights the Division V victory at Price.  Jermaine Jamerson scored 22 points for Price, and Keilon Fortune scored 24 points for Kilpatrick.  Since we were at this game, here's what we posted on the message board the night of the game: "This was one of the weirdest games I've ever seen. It had everything, from great plays to some of the biggest bonehead plays on both sides. In the first quarter, Price opened up an 11-0 run, and then at the end of the quarter, Kilpatrick led 15-13. . . Price used a 20-2 run in the second quarter to take a 36-22 halftime lead, and they held Kilpatrick to just 4 points in the quarter. The third quarter was a little bit better for Kilpatrick and they trailed by 9 at the end, 45-36.  In the fourth quarter Kilpatrick outscored Price, 10-4, cutting the deficit to 49-46 with 5:17 left.  The Mustangs trailed, 55-49, with 3:41 remaining when Kilpatricks Dominic Lacoste scored and started an 8-2 run.  With about two minutes to play Keilon was at the line shooting one and one, and he missed the front end. Oscar Edwards rebounds the ball, jumps into the lane, but no one, and I mean no one, moved at all, and Edwards, thinking it must have been a two shot foul, turns, and rolls the ball out of bounds to the ref. . . Kilpatrick ball. But then the Mustangs turned it over, and Chris Alexander scored a breakaway, coast to coast layup, which was virtually uncontested and it was again a three point game. With 1:14 remaining and a chance to tie the game, Kielon Fortune was again at the line, made the first of two free throws with 1:14 left, tying the score, 57-57. Khalief Washington's four-foot bank shot with 53 seconds left put Price ahead, 59-57.  With 29.9 seconds showing on the clock, Keilon again drove and drew another foul. He's shooting at the line in the double bonus, and Kilpatrick is down by one, with a chance to take the lead. Alexander has fouled out. Kahlief Washington has fouled out, and so has one other Price guy, and if he can make them both, Kilpatrick will likely win. The refs hand Keilon the ball, and every Price player around the key starts to wave their arms up and down to distract Keilon. . Now I don't know what ref school these guys went to but you can't do that in high school. Keilon shoots, and misses. Mustangs call a timeout (their last. .. remember this because it's important). 23 seconds on the clock, Keilon goes to the line to take the second shot, makes it and now it's a tie ball game, 59-59. Price gets the ball, brings it up court, and with 8 seconds on the clock, Andrew Howard pulls up about 15' out on the right side of the key, but the ball is blocked by Javier Dena, who grabs the rebound and Kilpatrick has the ball with about 5 seconds and a tie score.  This game is either going to overtime, or if the Mustangs can get it up court really quickly, there's a chance to win. But with 2 seconds showing on the clock, whistles start blowing, and the timekeeper eventually stops with a half-second showing (.5 seconds). There's a big conference at mid court, and one of the refs calls both coaches out onto the floor, where he informs them that "the big man [for Kilpatrick] called a time out, you didn't have one, technical". Now I'm not sure which "big man" they claim called the time out, Dena or Townsend, but as soon as they made this call, the Kilpatrick guys knew it was over. Andrew Howard of Price goes to the line, and all he's got to do is make one of two, and it's Price's game. He misses the first one. . . .but then makes the second, and the game ends."  Price is now 30-3, while Kilpatrick ends its season at 27-3. Javier Dena added 13 points for Kilpatrick and Domonic Lacoste 11.

Reedley Immanuel 78, Downey Calvary Chapel 71 (OT)-- Both teams finished this game without their best players:  For the Immanuel Eagles, their best inside player, Jacob Wild was on the bench and he didn't play the entire game due to an injury. Wild broke his thumb in the first quarter of Tuesday's game when he slapped the rim trying to block a shot. Thursday night, he wrapped his cast in soft plastic, hoping to play. But the officials ruled he could not.  He is not expected to play on Saturday against Price.  For Calvary Chapel, their best player, Tim Drisdom fouled out in the first seconds of overtime, which turned out to be fatal for the Grizzlies. They were outrebounded 46-26 and missed 13 free throws. The game was close throughout, Calvary Chapel's 10-0 run in the third quarter being the only real surge by either team. Tim Drisdom and Jonathan James controlled the Grizzlies' offense. With Calvary Chapel leading 62-60 and about 90 seconds to play, Calvary Chapel's Cameron Grider blocked Ryan Jackson's shot on the baseline. After the teams traded possessions, Immanuel forced a jump ball under the Grizzlies' basket to get the ball back with 36 seconds left.   Kyle Madeiros' then hit a bank shot with 12 seconds left to tie the game, and Drisdom and James both missed shots in the final five seconds.  Drisdom fouled out on a charging call five seconds into overtime.  Immanuel took the lead for good with 1:43 remaining when Aaron Warkentin slipped a shot through the Grizzlies in the key. Heinrichs scored twice on steals and combined with Jackson for six free throws down the stretch.  Heinrichs finished with 21,  Jackson had 19, Warkentin 13 and Madeiros finished with with 12.  There was no box score available in any of our local papers, so we can't give you the complete scoring, and nothing else was available online on this game either. . .. sorry.

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