SoCalHoops Recruiting News

8th Annual "Dream Classic"
Game Results--(Jan. 21, 2002)

	What:	8th Annual Dream Classic
	When:	Monday, January 21, 2002
	Time:	First game, 10:00 a.m.
		Last Game, 7:45 p.m.
	Where:	Azusa Pacific University

Ok, we've been at Azusa Pacific all day, and there's no way we're going to stay up all night just to give you reports and pictures, but the least we can do is give you the game scores and scoring leaders from each of the games.  More in-depth reports and photos will follow later, because once we finish this, we've got to get to work on the SoCalHoops Polls.....sheesh, late again.

Here's what happened today:

Game 1:  Price v. Rolling Hills Prep

Price 66, Rolling Hills Prep 64--Darn it, the best game of the day (from what we were told) and we got there late....Price trailed in the first quarter, 21-16, but Frank Peace was on fire, keeping Price going and he hit 9 points in the quarter.  In contrast, the first quarter for Rolling Hills Prep was a foul-fest, as Curtis Allen went to the line 5 times, scoring 9 points on free-throws, and another 5, including a three pointer, for 15 of his team's 21 first quarter points.  In the second quarter, Price managed to close to within two, but still trailed 36-38 at the break.  In the second quarter, Kalief Washington and Derrick Williams combined for 17 of Price's 20 (Washington had 8 and Williams 9), and for RHP, it was again Allen, who scored another 12 (on 6 two-point field goals), to finish with 21 for the first half.  In the third quarter, the teams each scored 16, and Allen scored another 9, while Derrick Williams and Oscar Edwards combined for 11 of Price's 16.  In the fourth, Price managed to come from behind, and pulled off the two point win, outscoring RHP 12-10.    Allen finished with 31 in the game (he didn't score at all in the fourth quarter), Jason Daley had 16, and DJ Wright had 12.   Alex Elliot had 2 and Kris Stricklin had 3 for RHP.  Price was led by Derrick Williams with 18, Peace had 15 and Oscar Edwards 13.   Other scoreres were Paul Simon with 5, Darren Markson with 1, and Schulyer McKay 2. 

Game 2:   Verbum Dei v. Calvary Chapel Downey

Verbum Dei 71, Calvary Chapel Downey 63--This one was a lot closer than the score would indicate and CCD (16-4) had several chances to pull to within two or three in the last few minutes, but the shots just weren't dropping for them  We were especially impressed with Verb ( 17-3), and Utah-signee Richard Chaney, who led all scorers with 27 on a variety of shots.  He floated some nice jumpers, had some runners in the lane, and even a three, as well as a couple of authoritative dunks....Rick Majerus will be very happy.... Verb was also helped by some great point guard play from Mike Pagan (who transferred over from Long Beach Poly over the summer). He finished with only 7 points, but had a great game and did some very nice things on the court.  Other scorers for Verb were Turner 9, DeShalen Barber with 6, Starr with 14, Bell 7, and Kinney 2.    Calvary Chapel Downey was, as usual, led by sophomore Ralph Miley with 24, including two very nice three's, and another Utah-signee, senior point guard Tim Drisdom, who finished with 19.. . . again, Rick Majerus will be very happy.  CCD however, didn't get the kind of offensive production that they've been used to from several other guys: Cameron Grider only had 2, DeShon Shuler 2,  Matt Henderson 7, and Jonathan James 11.  For those interested here's the scoring by quarters:  CCD--17  14  16  17--63,  Verbum Dei--15  18  19  19--71.

Game 3:  Diamond Bar v. Bishop Amat

Bishop Amat 74, Diamond Bar 69 (OT) --Another game that was a lot closer than the score would indicate.  Diamond Bar struggled to get the offensive flow going and trailed 18-10 at the end of the first, but managed to close the gap by outscoring Amat 15-11 in the second.  For those interested in the recruiting angle, yes, Kalief Ford was being closely watched by several high-majors, including UCLA's Jim Saia and USC's Curtis Townsend, and as they say, sometimes exposure is a good thing and sometimes its not.  Kalief did some marvelous things on the court, and despite giving some of us a scare that he might have reinjured is knee (he tore his ACL last year) it was a false alarm....Kalief finished with 16 points in a losing effort, but his drives to the basket were blindingly quick even if his handle was a bit shakey early on.  Once he settled down after sitting for about three minutes at the end of the first, things got back to normal for Diamond Bar and they begame to compete, and in fact, in the third quarter, outscored the Lancers 20-12, to take their biggest lead of the game at the end of the quarter, 45-41.  But the fourth quarter, led to a draw as John Haywood, who has scored 8 of his team's 12 third quarter points scoed another 6 in a 21 oint outburst, including a floater in the lane which led to the overtime.  Haywood finished with 23 to lead all scorers.  Brandon Papez led Diamond Bar with 17.  The rest of the scoring went like this:  Diamond Bar--Corona 5, Cortez 3, Paul Porter 6, Cesar Rodriguez 10, Sias 7.  Bishop Amat--Myles 6, HGenry Largaespada 6, Jaun Canas 8, Darren Manley 6, Paul Porter 13, Wesley Walker (who just committed this morning to UCLA for football) 8, George Balderas 2.    Bishop Amat--18 11  12  21  12--74;  Diamond Bar--10   15  20  17  7--69.

Game 4:  Woodbridge v. Mission Viejo

Mission Viejo 78, Woodbridge 61--We'd like to say that this one was closer than it looks, but it wasn't, not by a long shot, and Woodbridge trailed by as many as 25 points at several times throughout the game, struggling without anyone really pacing the offense or setting up plays.  In fairness, Patrick Haddan was there, but not playing, having injured his ankle pretty badly a week or so ago, and he probably won't return until the playoffs (that's our best guestimate, not based on any medical info we have....and frankly, we'd encourage him not to rush it, because ankle injuries can be made worse by playing too soon and he should have a long college playing career ahead of him regardless of how this season turns out).    Woodbridge used five or six different players at the point, and while they all managed to get the ball upcourt, there wasn't really any flow, and hence no real offense.  Mission Viejo, on the other hand, had about 20 or more steals (we didn't count, but it sure seemed that way), most of which led to baskets. Travis Neisen (signed with Santa Clara University) had 18 to lead all scorers, and both Kevin Stacey and Erik Engstrom had 15 points each.   For Woodbridge, Cole Edmondson led the team with 12, and Jordy Perkins had 11;  no one else scored in double figures.  To give you an idea of how not close this was, at the end of the third quarter, the score was 64-36. . . . But hey, it was still a game, and it was MLK, Jr. Monday, and it's all good, and we will say that the Woodbridge guys were trying, even if they got a bit discouraged at times.  David Burgess has a big body, but someone please, give that boy the ball in the post and work with him on his footwork.  He's got a lot of talent, and plenty of upside to work with.   The biggest and most pleasant surprise for us was Jed Collins (the younger brother of junior Jake Collins who finished with 7 points himself).  Jed's older brother Lenny is still at Santa Margarita, and will play at Cornell next season.  Jed looks not much like the other two brothers, and in fact looks nothing like what you'd expect a post player to look like, particularly a 6'-2" So. post player, but this is one tough kid.  Posted up, drove to the basket with a nice left hand layup in traffic, had several assists, including a very nice behind the back bounce pass in the lane when he realized his shot wasn't there, and a tenacious defender.   His brother Jake will likely be recruited more highly because he just has that better basketball body, but they both have a tremendous sense for the game and can flat out play.  Nice surprise for us having not seen him previously.    Mission Viejo--18  27  19  16--78;   Woodbridge --10  14  12  23--61.  Mission Viejo--Ralph  5,   Ortiz  2, Niesen 18, J. Collins 7, Engstrom 15, Curran 1, Stacey 15, McTiegue 6, Jed Collins 8, Wittick 2.  Woodbridge--Hingorani 5, Winder  6, Nicill 4, Barlow 6, Adams 2, Clark 2, Edmondson 12, Perkins 11, Boldig 2, Moeller 4, Burgess 4.

Game 5: Pasadena v. Los Altos

Pasadena 62, Los Altos 39--What's the refrain?  We'd like to say that this one was closer than it looks, but....dang, it was just not that close.  Los Altos was happy just to be there, playing in a nice arena and we're sure that they wanted to make a better showing of it, but truth be told, Pasadena dominated this one  from just about the start to finish.  Pasadena was led again by Dino Wilburn with 16, and Duwan Rice with 10, and Travis Bean with 12.   Others were Brandon Sweeney with 5, Antony Phillips with 5, MacKensie Clark with 6, Emani Leonard with 8.   Los Altos was led by Anthony Garcia with 10; no one else scored in double figures.  Los Altos--Barnes 8, Okamoto 2, Phillips 5, Hawk  4, Nazaroff 2, Harwell 2, Rogers 6.   Pasadena--13  17 24  11--62;   Los Altos--9  13  9  9--39.

Game 6: Peninsula v. Inglewood

Inglewood 62, Peninsula 57--We'd love to be able to give you a box score or the scoring details, but someone lifted the stats from us at the end of this game, and they are now nowhere to be found.....Ray Reed and Jason McKinney, along with some other terrific play from others, were just too much for Peninsula's Shawn Weinstein and Kevin Gardner, the Panthers' two standout players.   Jason McKinney played about as well as we've seen him play since he was a freshman, driving, pulling up and hitting the open jumper, and making some very solid passes, and Ray Reed was also tremendous, working both the point and the off-guard position.   Weinstein shot the ball about as well as anyone we've seen from three, hitting several critical shots, and Gardner and Kurt Graeber provided a set of twin 6'-8" towers that Inglewood couldn't really match inside, so Pat Roy didn't even try that, particularly with DeAngelo Collins sitting on the bench in street clothes, still nursing his injured (but healing) right knee, and the Sentinels got this one with pure speed and great run and jump defense.  Weinstein finished with 20,  while Ray Reed led Inglewood with 18, and Jason McKinney had 17.

Game 7:  Mater Dei v. San Diego Horizon

Mater Dei 65, Horizon 56--This one was a lot closer than the final score would indicate, and for most of the first half, and even into the third quarter, Horizon led.  Jack Nelson, who was sitting next to us and who covers Mater Dei and other Orange County basketball for California Preps wrote some notes up on the game, thereby saving us some typing.   Here's what he said: Mater Dei trailing 36-29 at the half came out with a 12-1 run to open second half and after getting the lead they hung on for 47-46 third period lead and then pulled away in the fourth quarter to win by 9 as they outscored the Panthers 36-20 in second half. Mater Dei scoring, M. Strawberry 16, Washington 15, Schaen 11, Nelson 9, Jones 6, Henry 4, Gerrity 2 and Chicoine 2 Horizon scoring: Carter 20,Veikalis 15, Dudley 14, Read 4 and Roberts 3. Horion 22-57 from field 3-18 on 3 pt and Monarchs were 23-42 from field and 0-4 from 3 point range. Monarchs were 19-29 from the free throw line while Panthers were 9-15. Both teams pulled down 27 boards and Monarchs had 18 turnovers to Panthers 15...."

Of course the above doesn't completely tell the story of the game, just the down and dirty scoring.  What's missing is the fact that Nate Carter was a scoring machine until early in the third quarter when he picked up his fourth foul and the Horizon head coach also picked up a technical and nearly got ejected from the game for using some very colorful language following the 4th foul on Carter.    Carter didn't score in the third, but as noted above, still finished with 20 (including two threes) to lead Horizon.  Benas Veikalas is also capable of hitting the long range jumper and all but three of his 15 were from long range (not quite threes, but close).   Jared Dudley is also a nice scorer and played tough defense for Horizon, and finished with 15.  Only two others scored, Ryan Read with 4, and Joktan Roberts with 3.

For Mater Dei, it was nice to see Harrison Schaen scoring well and playing solidly in the low post, and he seems to have largely recovered from his broken foot which held him back at the end of summer and the beginning of this season.  We were pleasantly surprised to see some nice play from some of the new, upcoming younger players, including Mike Gerrity, who is handling the pressure of the point guard spot for the Monarchs pretty well.  He's young, just a sophomore, but he did some very nice things, moving the ball well against pressure; he forced several shots and rushed the offense at times when slowing things down might have been better, but give him time.....The other pleasant surprise was Chris Henry, who looks a lot like a better, younger version of a Scott Borchart (formerly Chaminade now redshirting at Santa Clara University)....Big, strong, tough kid, plays really hard and has a nice touch around the basket, and he'll only get better (we hope).   Henry is a guy who, according to Clark Francis of the HoopScoop (who was sitting next to us during the game) is a guy who "could play the game for money someday...."  He's a big, solid banger, who knows how to use his body to get position, can score and seems to like the rough inside play that he was getting tonight from Horizon's Mezhron Evans and Nate Carter, who took turns tangling with him defensively.  Henry moves surprisingly well for a guy with his size and was very resilient after getting hammered mercilessly a few times. In short, we like what we saw of him in this game, and so too presumably did some of the college coaches in attendance (USC, Stanford, Cal Poly SLO, Santa Clara, Gonzaga, Cal Poly Pomona, etc.).  The most solid player offensively for Mater Dei, at least the most reliable scorer inside was Mike Strawberry, who finished with a team high 16. Just solid.    Travante Nelson also played great in the second half, as did Marcel Jones.  

 
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