division 4A semifinals game details

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SoCalHoops HS Playoff News

CIF-SS IV-A Semis: Verb Beats MCP;
Serra Beats CCD--(Feb. 23, 2002)

The Division IV-A semifinals brought an end to the high school careers of several players, but among them was Calvary Chapel's Tim Drisdom, a Utah-signee who has been the Division V-AA Player of the Year two times, and last year won the John R. Wooden HS Player of the Year Award, among his many other honors, and his Calvary Chapel Downey team was beaten by a resurgent Serra squad, led by Eugene Jeter, who will sign with the University of Portland in the spring, and by 6'-5 Chris Hemphill. It was also the end of the road for Montclair Prep last night, which ran into a very tough Verbum Dei squad, setting up a final that many think will be one of the best and most exciting matchups in the CIF-SS playoffs this year. The scores last night were as follows:

The semifinals will feature:

No. 1 Verbum Dei 71, No. 4 Montclair Prep 53
No. 3 Serra 91, No. 2 Calvary Chapel Downey 68

The Division IV-A Championship game will be played next Friday night at Loyola-Marymount University. Game time has not been announced yet.

We'll post the bracket up separately as well as a preview of the semifinals. Here are the details from last night's games:

DIVISION IV-A
Semifinals

No. 1 Verbum Dei 71, No. 4 Montclair Prep 53 --Verbum Dei (26-3) is a team which has been to the State Tournament three times in the last four years, and prior to last season, the Eagles were the two-time defending State Champs, and they were not about to be denied last night as Tai Turner scored 20 points and Richard Chaney added 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven rebounds for the No. 1 seed in the win over visiting No. 4 seed Montclair Prep (16-12), in a semifinal game played at Lynwood High.

Montclair Prep's junior transfer scoring sensation Nick Stigger (6'-8" Jr. G/F) scored 31 points for Montclair Prep in the loss, but other than Stigger's sometimes spotty defensive performance, the Mounties were never in this one, and it was all Verbum Dei. Utah-bound Richard Chaney had 7 blocks and 10 rebounds, and Michael Bell had 14 rebounds to go along with 10 points. Verb's Sophomore point guard Michael Pagan finished with 12 points and 8 assists, and Michael Davis a junior point guard also played very well for Verb for long stretches while Pagan rested. DeShalen Barber only scored once, but he had some key defensive stops for Verbum Dei before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Verbum Dei jumped out to a 20-8 first quarter lead, as all five Eagle starters scored multiple field goals in the first quarter, but Montclair Prep's only scorer was Stigger, and he had all 8 of the Mounties' first quarter points. Things went from bad to worse for Montclair Prep, and from good to better for the Eagles in the second quarter as Verb outscored the visitors 18-9, while Montclair Prep committed some questionable fouls with no apparent rhyme or reason. Example: With 30 seconds remaining in the second quarter and Verbum Dei comfortably ahead 34-17, Stigger picked up his second foul as he threw a full body-block on Richard Chaney who was flying through the key on a fastbreak; Stigger was called for a "hard foul" on Chaney, who wound up on the floor holding his thigh. While Chaney left the game momentariy, Tai Turner made both free throws for him, to increase Verb's lead to 36-17. On Montclair Prep's next ensuing possession, Marko Bozovic missed a point-blank layup and apparently frustrated, and with just 5.8 seconds remaining, Stigger committed his third personal, and Turner again went to the line where he made two more to give Verbum Dei a commanding 38-17 lead which it took into the locker room at the half.

In the third quarter, Stigger scored 9 more, and a few more Mounties got on the board, as Mark Johnson hit a pair of layups, but Stigger again committed another foul, his 4th personal with 1:52 to play in the third, with the score at 54-28, Verbum Dei. The fourth quarter saw Stigger sitting for long stretchs, but other than a free throw by Slobodan Cvijovic and one layup each for Blaise Louh and Charlie Kranzdorf, all the rest of the scoring was again left to Stigger who had 14 in the quarter.

No. 3 Serra 91, No. 2 Calvary Chapel Downey 68--Eugene Jeter, who recently committed to the University of Portland, scored a game-high 31 points points and teammate Chris Hemphill added 27 to lead Serra (26-3) over Calvary Chapel Downey (24-5) in a semifinal contest played at Bishop Montgomery last night. Despite being double-teamed by Serra defenders every time he touched the ball, Drisdom finished his high school career on a high note, scoring 23 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Serra will play Verbum Dei, which demolished Montclair Prep in an easy win at Lynwood HS. The championship game will be played next Friday at LMU. Hemphill also finished with 15 rebounds and 8 dunks as Calvary Chapel was out-rebounded 44-20. Jeter also dished out 9 assists, had 5 steals and 7 rebounds. Hemphill and 6-8 Samir Hernandez controlled the paint, and Hernandez added 11 points and 7 rebounds. Serra initially jumped out to a 21-13 lead at the end of the first half after going on a 12-4 run. While Calvary Chapel managed to cut it to 23-18 within the first few minutes of the second quarter, Serra quickly took control as Calvary Chapel's Cameron Grider was in foul trouble, and with no inside presence, Serra was able to dominate early and often on the boards. At the half, Serra led 46-28. The Grizzlies came out with a 12-6 run in the third quarter to cut the Serra lead to 12 at 52-40, but Serra then went on its own 8-0 run and never looked back.