We are pulling into the home stretch, the next-to last week of regular season games before the playoffs begin.  Here's what we know about Saturday's games gathered from reports sent to us from team representatives, coaches, players and parents, as well as what we've been able to gather from local newspapers and websites. If you know of a game that we missed, a score that is unreported, or some details that we're missing, send it in via e-mail.

Alpha League

Paraclete 87, Pasadena Marshall 65-- Josh Hilley had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Drew Gill and Tommy Caton both scored 16 points each for Paraclete (8-13, 4-2) in the win over Marshall, which remains winless in league play.

Christian League

Ontario Christian 67, Arrowhead Christian 66 (OT) --Ontario Christian's (18-5, 8-3) Chris Garcia hit two free throws with four seconds to play to send the game into overtime, and then Garcia then hit the winning free throw with four seconds to play in overtime. Travis Hoekstra had 22 points and 15 rebounds in the win. Teammate Greg Talen recorded 18 points and 12 rebounds.  Garcia finished with 14 points and six steals for the Knights.  Arrowhead Christian dropped to 5-5 in league play.

Western Christian 57, Murrieta Calvary Chapel 21

De Anza League

Big Bear 68, Beaumont 45 --Junior 6-0 guard Kevin Zuidema had 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals as Big Bear defeated visiting Beaumont 68-45 on Saturday in a De Anza League game. Sophomore 6-3 forward Brandon Henderson added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Bears (7-5, 10-11).

Delphic League

Pacific Hills 61, Brentwood 59 --Freshman Frank Henri-Ala scored 16 points for Pacific Hills (13-12, 3-5) in the win.

High Desert League

Rosamond 102, Bishop 48 --Rosamond (19-4, 11-0) broke the 100 point barrier for the umpteenth time this season behind Brandon Murray's team high 25 points and 10 rebounds.  Craig Tunnel added 10 points and 13 assists in the win.

Hi-Lo League

Big Pine 62, Immanuel Christian 50 --Big Pine (13-6, 9-0) was led by Jose Rico who scored 29 points over Immanuel Christian (6-12, 5-4), which got a team-high 24 points from Kevin Spargo in the loss.

Trona 65, Baker Valley 32 --Trona (12-6, 6-0) was led by Cody Corim with 16 points over Baker, which was led by Carlos Suane with  21 points.

Liberty League

Yeshiva 57, Viewpoint 52 --Host Yeshiva (15-4, 12-0) almost didn't make this one, trailing by 16 at the start of the fourth quarter, but then went on a 21-8 streak in the final quarter behind senior forward Isaac Gabbai, who scored 7 points, including making the game-winning three pointer with 1:50 remaining.   Senior Mike Pollack scored 15 points and had 8 rebounds.  Viewpoint junior forward Matt Mosko (6'-7" Jr. F) led the Patriots with 26 points. Yeshiva has two more games remaining, and if they win them both, will win the league title for the first time in three seasons.  The Panthers play at Holy Martyrs on Monday, and close out the regular season at Buckley on Thursday night against the defending league champion Griffins, who are currently 10-2 and in sole possession of second place.

Metro League

Desert Chapel 66, Cal Luthern 35--After a close first quarter, the Eagles outscored Cal Luthern 52-24 in the final three periods. Nathan Law finished with a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds. Law also finished with four blocks. Mike Sloan scored 14 points and Reed Ritchie chipped in with 11. Point guard Paul Hackbarth scored 10 points and finished with five steals.

Mission League

Chaminade 74, Harvard-Westlake 58--Chaminade (19-6, 8-3) secured sole possession of second place in the Mission League with the win over Harvard-Westlake (19-5, 7-3) on Saturday afternoon at Chaminade, and the Wolverines, ranked No. 2 in both the SCIBCA CIF Poll and SoCalHoops Top 20 in Division IV-AA, find themselves in danger of losing the homecourt first round game unless they win their next two games.  The Wolverines committed 21 turnovers, and shot 19-60 from the field on Saturday, and as a result, suffered a 16 point loss which is sure to drop them in the rankings in this week's polls. Chaminade got solid performances from sophomore Adrian Aye-Darko who finished with 20 points, including two 3-pointers,  and Gerred Link added 16 points, Marcus Everett had 13, Jon Todd had nine, and Dion Cook scored four points with 12 rebounds, and Jesse Taylor, a seldom used football player who has committed to Washington State scored 4 points. Harvard Westlake was led by sophomore Bryce Taylor with 16 points, on 3-16 shooting, and 0-6 from three point range. The Wolverines had no one else in double figures.  The Wolverines had a miserable middle two quarters, as Chaminade outscored them 42-23 in the combined second and third quarters:   Harvard-Westlake was outscored 24-11 in the second quarter, and 18-12 in the third.

Notre Dame 58, Crespi 53 --Notre Dame (9-15,5-5) was led by Orlando Baeza with 16 points in the win over Crespi, which was led by senior point guard Allan Ellis with 23 points.  Notre Dame came back from a 16 point deficit, and outscored Crespi 42-24 in the second half.  Rob Koslowsky finished with 13 and he and Ellis were the only Celts in double figures.  Sean Djernes added 10 for the Knights.

Loyola 71, Alemany 59--Loyola (19-3, 9-1) secured its grip on first place and the eventual league title as senior forward Chris Rucker scored 21 points in the win over Alemany.  Vincent Oliver scored 15 points,  Omar Wilkes had 10, as did Josh Flynn-Brown. Davids Cantor added 6. 

Valley League

Valley Torah 80, AGBU 55 --Valley Torah (13-6, 8-3) was led by Yaniv Gabay with 23 points and Yair Katz who added 21 points.

Victory League

Desert Christian 34, Bloomington Christian 32--The Conquerors pulled out a late comeback in the fourth quarter despite being outscored 11-3 in the third period. Ritchie Mangus led all scorers with 11 points.

Campbell Hall 81, Hillcrest Christian Granada Hills 69 --Campbell Hall  (10-13) was led by Matt Llewellyn who scored 35 points, and Dominic Miller with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Hillcrest Christian was led by Jason Haddad with 27 points and Alex Martino who added 20 points in the loss.  Jon Oronoz had 12 for GH Hillcrest, while Darryl Harris added 13 for Campbell Hall.

Carpinteria 63, Laguna Blanca 50--The Warriors were led by Nick Zemke who scored 11 points and David Horton 10 to pace Carpinteria. Jelani Hicks led three Laguna players in double figures with 13 points. Eric Geeb and Andy Nelson added 12 apiece. Carpinteria-- E. Lopez 9, Munoz 3, Boardman 9, Zemke 11, J. Lopez 4, Zoldos 2, Horton 10, Hildebrand 2, Lamar 6, Dudley 7. Totals 27 5-10 63. Laguna Blanca -- Geeb 10, Hicks 13, Jeffrey 2, Jones 4, Kaufman 7, Nelson 12, Whited 2. Totals 21 5-15 50. Carpinteria--20 15 10 18 -- 63  Laguna Blanca--21  5 12 12 -- 50  3-point goals--C 4 (E Lopez, Munoz, Boardman, Zemke). LB 3 (Hicks 2, Kaufman). Total fouls--C 17, LB 8. Fouled out--None. Technical foul--Zemke. Records--LB 8-11, C 10-10

Crossroads 64, Chadwick 55 --Robert Locke led Crossroads (16-5) with 21 points in the non-league contest against Chadwick (10-4) , which received 26 points from Matt Fournier, including 6 three-pointers, six assists and three rebounds.

Lake Arrowhead Christian 59, Academy for Academic Excellence 48 --Sophomore guard Gerry Conedy netted 25 points for Lake Arrowhead Christian (9-10), in addition to six rebounds and five steals as the Eagles defeated the visiting Knights (7-8).

Redlands Adventist Academy 61, Peace in the Valley 54--Freshman 6-0 forward Matt Irwin scored 12 of his team-high 14 points from three-point range as the visiting Bulldogs (11-6) defeated the Eagles in a nonleague game. Steven Stott had 19 points for Peace in the Valley.

St. Margaret's 68, Eastside Christian 39 --Paul Janczyk scored 18 points, Ninyus Youkhanneh added 17 and Nick Benedetto had 12 for St. Margaret's (11-9) in the win over Eastside Christian (6-15).

There were two big "extravaganza" events, one at the Pyramid, which was the larger, and more well-publicized Nike Extravaganza, and then there was the Sylmar HS-sponsored "War on the Floor Extravaganza" at the College of the Canyons.  We've already posted the Nike Extravaganza scores and some details elsewhere, so we won't repeat those results here again.  Unfortunately, the War on the Floor wasn't well-covered by the local papers, but fortunately Dave Keefer from CaliforniaPreps.com was there to watch and write about all the action.  Here are his reports, with links to the originals which can be found at the CaliforniaPreps website.

War on the Floor Extravaganza
@ College of the Canyons

Game 1: Locke 84, Rolling Hills Prep 72 --Kevin Lewis had 31 points and Curtis Isom had 26 points for Locke (12-11) in a victory over Rolling Hills Prep (12-6).

Here's Dave Keefer's report from CaliforniaPreps.com:

"Locke (12-11) was coming off a tough game (with Crenshaw) from last night while Rolling Hills (12-6) had the night off as both teams started off the War on the Floor with an 11am tipoff. But it was the Rolling Hills Huskies who came out sluggish and watched as Locke grabbed most of the loose balls, most of the rebounds, and continually beat them back in transition for easy baskets or fouls. The Saints also got a lot of uncontested three-pointers early on. The result were leads for Locke of 27-11 after the first quarter and a whopping 43-20 at the half.

6’7” center Kevin Lewis and 6’2” guard Curtis Isom combined for 21 first-quarter points and they totaled 30 at the half in leading Locke out to their big start. Isom (at right) had three 3-pointers and Lewis one at the break as the Saints seemed much more determined to win this game than did the Huskies. The third quarter looked like more of the same as a Lewis (shown below) dunk gave Locke their biggest lead of the game at 47-21. But Rolling Hills finally came to life and began chipping away at the lead.

Kris Striklin’s 3-pointer made it 58-42, Curtis Allen’s trey made it 60-45, and the quarter ended at 63-47 in Locke’s favor. A trio of sophomores was fueling the Huskies’ comeback: guards D.J. Wright & Jason Daley and 6’4” forward Allen. Daley’s putback started off the fourth quarter scoring to make the score 63-49 but Lewis responded with three straight points, the last two after a resounding alley-oop dunk. The Huskies still had time though, and two Daley free throws finally cut the lead to ten, 70-60 with 4:42 still to play. Allen’s next trey with about 4 minutes left got the deficit under ten (74-65) and shouts of “Here come the Huskies!” were heard.

They kept coming as Daley’s putback made it 76-71 with just under two minutes left. But Isom fed Clarence Bagsby with a beautiful pass for a layup and the Saints regrouped to pull away for the victory. Isom seemed a little disappointed after the game because he felt his team had let Rolling Hills back into the game when they shouldn’t have. “Yeah, coach is probably going to have us run for that” he smiled.

Lewis led the way in scoring for Locke with 31 points (coming off a 47-point game last night, and 34 earlier in the week). Isom was right behind with 26. For Rolling Hills Prep, Wright had an outstanding game and finished with 24 points (18 in the second half). Daley had 22 (16 in second half), and Allen added 17.

Game 2: Washington Prep 67, Cleveland 58
By Dave Keefer

Washington Prep (8-12) came in with a losing record but you never would have guessed it by the way they played here today. Cleveland (14-9) has certainly won their share of games this season but this game would not be another one of them. It was a tight contest for three quarters as neither team could forge much advantage or take control. Washington Prep gained a 17-12 early lead (17-14 after the first quarter) but the Cavaliers then ran off seven straight points to lead 19-17 on Casey Bednash’s three-pointer (his only points of the game). It was close the rest of the half; Gus Valle’s trey sent Cleveland into the locker room leading 30-29.

The Generals came out strong in the third quarter and tried to distance themselves from Cleveland. Wayne Chamberlain’s basket gave them a lead of 41-33. Later teammate Dwayne Thomas drained a three and it was 44-36. Cleveland’s Edwin Johnson answered with a three of his own and the Cavaliers eventually pulled to within 46-44 (at the end of the 3rd qtr) and tied it at 46-46 as the 4th quarter got underway.

But Thomas (at right), Chamberlain, and Demetrius Hazel took over the game for Washington Prep as they pulled away and kept a comfortable lead the rest of the way. A Thomas trey started a pivotal 9-0 run that upped the score to 55-46. Cleveland would never recover. Thomas’ sixth (and last) three-pointer made it 61-49 and the Generals coasted from there for the 67-58 victory. Thomas was the game-high scorer with 22 points, Hazel had 16, and Chamberlain 12. Cleveland had three players in double figures: Matt Awad had 15 (3 treys, 5 assists); Johnson played well and added 12 points, Nick Young also had 12.

Game 3:  This was a girls' game between Harvard-Westlake and Bakersfield Centennial,  and we don't have the results

Game 4:  Garces (Bakersfield) 76, Immanuel (Reedley) 54
By Dave Keefer

Since the towns of Bakersfield and Reedley aren’t among our regular stops during basketball season, it was a treat to see these two exceptional teams travel south to play each other. These teams will both probably advance several rounds into the playoffs so we’ll probably see them again. Garces appears to have a better chance at a divisional title though, based on this game’s result.

Immanuel enjoyed a lead very early in the game but once Garces took a 21-12 lead after the first quarter, Immanuel had trouble keeping up. Kyle Shiloh (shown at right), Robert Swift, and Christian Martin carried the load for Garces in the first quarter (scoring all the team’s points). But it was a prolific spurt by Anthony Esparza in the second quarter that forged a gap from which Immanuel could never recover. Garces’ lead was only 23-18 when he hit two consecutive three-pointers to make it 29-18. He followed with a deuce a little later to keep Immanuel at bay 34-23. Then Esparza capped off his 11-point burst with another trey to put his team up 38-26. The half ended at 38-30.

Immanuel’s last chance came when they managed to close to within six at 40-34. Garces then went on a 14-0 run to put the game away. Esparza started the run with a nice drive to the hoop. Then Zack Ryan got hot, hitting a trey, finishing off a fast break with a ferocious dunk, then laying in a basket after a nice dish from Shiloh. Esparza ended the run with another layup to make it 54-34. Jacob Wild tried his best to keep Immanuel in the game (15 points in the second half) but Garces had too many weapons to contend with. Swift (shown at left) was a presence in the paint on both ends of the court and as a result Immanuel had to take a lot of outside shots and they stopped falling. 

Scoring leaders:
Garces: Esparza 17, Shiloh 16, Swift 13, Ryan 9.
Immanuel: Wild 24, Jeff Warkentin 11.

Interestingly, we saw Robert Swift attending the Nike Extravaganza with his parents later in the evening.

Game 5: Sylmar 53, Narbonne 51
By Dave Keefer

This was kind of an ugly game so let’s start our summary with the best part: the ending. With the score tied at 51-51 Sylmar coach Bort Escoto called time out with 10 seconds left in regulation. Bort is used to drawing up last-second plays so we were interested to see how this one would work out. When play resumed, Sylmar inbounded the ball and Frank Robinson was soon maneuvering his way toward the hoop and he got a short jumper off in heavy traffic. The shot missed and Narbonne rebounded and quickly called their own time out and an opportunity for a last shot with 3 seconds showing on the clock.

Unfortunately for them the inbounds pass traveled all the way down court and out of bounds untouched. So Sylmar was awarded the ball underneath their own basket with the same 3 seconds remaining on the game clock. Time out for another play to be drawn up. Keep in mind that the game to this point had not been a pretty one: lots of turnovers, missed shots, bad decisions, and tired players trying to execute their offenses. But the next play was worked to perfection. Two screens were set up and big Jeff Morse (shown at right) found himself wide open for an inbounds pass underneath the hoop and he layed it in for the game winner!

Both teams started out with lots of pressure on defense and points were hard to come by. Narbonne (16-7) seemed to be passing more and getting off better shots, but few were falling. Sylmar (18-5) seemed intent on dribbling one-on-one more than Narbonne and forcing more shots (which weren’t falling with regularity). The Spartans managed to build a 12-6 lead but it was pared down by Narbonne to 12-10 at the first break. Louis Darby (at left) came off the bench to provide a little scoring spark for Sylmar. His three-point play gave them a 15-12 lead that grew to 18-14. Then Narbonne scored eleven straight points to grab a 25-18 lead. But their spell of productivity would be short-lived as Sylmar ended up scoring the last six points of the half and trailed only 27-26 at that point.

The second half began with Narbonne sinking two technical free throws. We later found out it was because Robinson had dunked in warm-ups before the start of the second half. Both teams spent most of the rest of the third quarter trying to find a way to make the basketball touch the bottom of the net. Finally, with 2:18 left in the quarter, Escoto had had enough and called time out to strongly urge his troops to “run the offense” and not to force things. The effort paid off for the next play, a nice drive and dish by Robinson to Morse for an easy layup. But that was still the exception to the rule for much of the remainder of the game.

Neither team would lead by more than three points the rest of the way. Narbonne led 37-35 after three quarters but Fernando Barreda opened the fourth quarter by nailing Sylmar’s only three-pointer on the night to put the Spartans ahead 38-37. Reggie Simms and Christian Smith were nailing most of Narbonne’s clutch shots down the stretch. Simms’ basket tied the score at 41-41. When Morse followed with a three-point play it appeared that the score was now 44-41 in Sylmar’s favor. But a scoring error was discovered that occurred sometime earlier in the game. The officials changed the scoreboard to read 42-40 (Sylmar) much to the confusion of nearly all in attendance. Then came the ending and the thrilling conclusion that resulted in the win by Sylmar. 

Scoring:
Sylmar: Darby 16, Morse 11, Robinson 11, Alfredo Tovar 6, Sam Harris 5.
Narbonne: Simms 17, Smith 14 (4 three-pointers).

Game 6: This was another girls game, Sylmar v. Saugus, and we don't have the results.

Game 7: Fairfax 77, Modesto Christian 60 

This was the headline game, and no doubt it would have been a more exciting matchup if Modesto Christian had its two best players in uniform but Richard Midgley (Cal-signee) and Mark Pratt (Boise State-signee) were both declared ineligible in December by the Sac-Joaquin CIF section.  But they still put up a fight against Fairfax  (24-3) who got 18 points from UCLA-commit Evan Burns.   According to the LA Times account of the game, "Four other players hit double figures for Fairfax":  Kevin Bell had 16 points, Thomas Woods 11, and Alex Bausley and Fernando Sampson each had 10.  James Noel led Modesto Christian (17-9) with 19 points.

Here's Dave Keefer's account of the game:

Fairfax 77, Modesto Christian 60
By Dave Keefer

Modesto Christian (17-9) came into the game with quite a few losses so most fans were expecting a fairly easy game for Fairfax (24-3) who has split two games with Westchester who was once ranked as high as #1 in the nation. MC played under control and were obviously well coached and were equipped with plenty of talent. But their bench was quite lean when compared to the deep and talented bench of Fairfax, and this may have contributed to their inability to stay with Fairfax after the third quarter. The starters were getting worn out by the waves of Lions coming at them. 

Modesto jumped on top 13-8 and they were doing well with David Paris and James Noel battling in the paint for points and rebounds. However, Paris got his second foul shortly and had to leave before the quarter ended. Modesto still led after one quarter 16-12 and Paris returned to start the second quarter. He never seemed much of a factor after that; Fairfax concentrated on neutralizing him and he never provided much offense from then on. But his team still led 32-29 as Fairfax went for the last shot of the half and Kevin Bell got fouled with two seconds left. “BJ” made the first free throw but missed the second. However, Evan Burns leaped in to tip in the miss as the buzzer went off and the score was tied 32-32.

The third quarter ended with Fairfax on top 51-46 and on the way to blowing it open. Burns was heating up and he fueled a fourth quarter barrage that sent the lead soaring to 68-50 after his three-pointer. Burns led all scorers with 18; Bell had 16, Thomas Woods 11, Alex Bausley 10, Fernando Sampson 10, and Josh Shipp 5. For Modesto Christian it was Noel with 19, Jeff Porter with 15, Paris 10, Miles Scott 9, Bobby Cole 8, and Liam Hughes 1.

San Pedro (LA City) 64, Compton (CIF-SS) 58--This game was arranged late, since Compton had plenty of open games (the Tarbabes didn't play in any tounaments because they had no coach appointed until after the season started).   Senior center Ryan Johnson had 24 points and 12 rebounds for host San Pedro (7-15).   Jimmy Clemons hit four of five three-pointers and finished with 16 points for Compton (2-15).San Pedro snapped an 8-game losing streak with the home victory. Roko Grbic added nine points and Houston Magee had eight for San Pedro.

 
©Copyright SoCalHoops 1997-2002
Questions? Comments? Need Information?
Contact: jegesq@SoCalHoops.com