SoCalHoops State Tournament

D-II SoCal & NorCal Regionals:
Semifinals Results & Brackets--(Mar. 11, 2002)

Aside from being laid up with the flu for a couple of days last week, there's been an incredible amount going on in basketball everywhere which kept us from posting this yesterday, the day after the Saturday semifinals.  But better late than never.   The finals are now set, and we'll see a matchup of Westchester and Long Beach Poly this coming Saturday at the Long Beach Arena.  Game time is 4:00 p.m.   The winner will advance to Arco Arena to the State Finals, meeting the NorCal champion.

What we've done, as with the first round, is to update the bracket (below) and are also post complete results by culling together the highlights from the pros who write about this stuff for a living, providing as many perspectives of the same game as possible, which, in some divisions means from about three or four different newspapers (with links of course back to the original newspaper source).  Here's what happened.

Mater Dei 88, Pasadena 79

From the Orange County Register
Mater Dei runs deep
The Monarchs get double-digit scoring from six players to beat Pasadena, 88-79.
By Steve Fryer

LONG BEACH -- It does little good to stop one Mater Dei player, or even two. Or three or four. "There is so much talent on this team," Mater Dei's Wesley Washington said. "We've got four guys on the bench who are as talented as the starters." Mater Dei showed that depth of talent again Saturday night as six Monarchs scored in double figures to beat Pasadena, 88-79, in a CIF Southern California Division II Regionals second-round game at The Pyramid at Long Beach State. The Monarchs, who are 29-4 and have won 22 in a row, play Martin Luther King of Riverside in the Division II final Saturday at 4 p.m. at Long Beach Arena. The winner of that game plays in the CIF State Division II championship game March 22 at 8 p.m. in Sacramento. Mater Dei won the CIF State Division I championship last season, beating Modesto Christian in the state Division I final. Because of a restructuring in the school-enrollment parameters set by the CIF State office that determines which schools are in which divisions, Mater Dei is a Division II school this season. Washington scored a team-high 19 points. Mike Strawberry scored 18, Mike Gerrity 15, Harrison Schaen 13, Trevante Nelson 12 and D.J. Strawberry 11. Last week in the CIF-Southern Section Division II-AA championship game, Mater Dei beat Pasadena, 65-49. Pasadena shot 6 for 28 (21 percent) in the first half of that game and trailed at halftime, 30-17. In Saturday night's game, Pasadena was 10 for 19 (53 percent) in the first half and trailed 36-34 at intermission. Mater Dei owned the third quarter. The Monarchs outscored the Bulldogs, 23-9, in the quarter. They opened the period with a 15-1 run, and Pasadena did not score its first basket until 2:07 was remaining.  The Bulldogs rallied and turned the 16-point deficit they faced going into the fourth quarter into a seven-point deficit with a minute remaining. They got no closer, but it was enough of a threat to concern Washington. "It was a lack of intensity there in that fourth quarter," said Washington, who led Mater Dei with seven rebounds. "I'm going to let our guys know we can't play like that anymore." The Monarchs were able to keep the lead in large part because of their free-throw shooting. They were 28 for 38 at the line. Gerrity was 11 for 12. Mater Dei also shot well from the field. The Monarchs were 29 for 53 - 55 percent. Pasadena's Duwan Rice, who struggled through a 3-for-14 shooting effort in the CIF-SS Division II-AA final last week, scored 30 points Saturday night. Dino Wilburn added 20 for the Bulldogs. Many of their points came at the free-throw line, where both made 12 foul shots. Pasadena was 34 for 40 at the free-throw line.

From the LA Times
By Dan Arritt

The Monarchs went on a 19-2 run during the first five minutes of the second half to clinch the victory at the Long Beach State Pyramid. Mater Dei (29-4) led by two points after a competitive first half, but Mike Strawberry hit a jumper on the opening possession of the third quarter and Trevante Nelson followed with a three-pointer to put the Monarchs ahead, 41-34. Mater Dei stretched its lead to 20 points later in the third quarter on a slam dunk by Harrison Schaen. Six players scored in double figures for Mater Dei, led by Wesley Washington with 19 points and Mike Strawberry with 18 points.  Duwan Rice scored 30 points to lead Pasadena (27-6), which lost to Mater Dei, 65-49, a week earlier in the Southern Section Division II-AA finals. Dino Wilburn, Pasadena's leading scorer at 21 points per game, scored 20 points but was limited to one basket and eight points in the first three quarters. Dan Arritt

From the Pasadena Star News
Scrappy Bulldogs fall short
By Keven Chavez,  Staff Writer

LONG BEACH --- Mater Dei High School's boys basketball team is an overwhelming favorite to win the CIF-State Division II championship in two weeks.   But if and when the Monarchs raise the championship plaque, they will likely remember Saturday night's Southern California Regional semifinal and the battle they received from a scrappy Pasadena team.  The Bulldogs played admirably against the perennial state power before losing 88-79 at The Pyramid at Long Beach State University.   "We showed (Mater Dei) something tonight," Pasadena senior guard Duwan Rice said. "We might have won the game if it weren't for the referees, but there's no disappointment at all."  In last week's 65-49 loss to Mater Dei in the CIF-Southern Section Division II-AA final at The Pond, Pasadena appeared overwhelmed and somewhat overmatched. That was not the case in the rematch.  The Bulldogs (27-6) led 19-18 after one period and 34-33 with less than a minute remaining before halftime. But Mater Dei regained the momentum and a two-point lead right before the halftime buzzer. Harrison Schaen made a free throw to tie the game, Mike Strawberry dunked following a Schaen steal, and Schaen rejected a shot by Rice to send the partisan crowd into a frenzy.   That momentum carried over into the opening minutes of the third quarter as the Monarchs (29-4) shut down the PHS offense and scored several baskets in transition. A breakaway layup by Blair transfer D.J. Strawberry capped Mater Dei's 19-2 third-quarter run and gave the Monarchs a commanding 55-36 advantage.  "I felt that we outplayed them for three of the four quarters," Pasadena coach Tim Tucker said. "I'm proud of what we were able to do."  Despite a 16-point deficit, the Bulldogs refused to surrender as they entered the fourth quarter.  Rice and fellow senior Dino Wilburn almost willed Pasadena back into the game. Rice was almost unstoppable on the dribble-drive and Wilburn's steal and ensuing free throws brought Pasadena to within 10, 76-66, with 2:15 left.  Rice scored 15 of his game-high 30 points and Wilburn scored 11 of his 20 in the fourth quarter. The pair also combined to make 24-of-28 free throws.  "Duwan put on a show tonight," Tucker said. "It was a great year for him and he got plenty of help, but just not quite enough to beat Mater Dei."  The Bulldogs got as close as seven points and missed a chance to cut it to five. But Mater Dei made 12-of-16 free throws down the stretch to hold off the charge.   All six of Mater Dei's scorers registered in double figures, led by Wesley Washington's 19. Mike Strawberry scored 18.  Antony Phillips contributed 13 points for Pasadena, which reached the State playoffs for the first time since 1995.   Pasadena took its first lead of the game late in the first quarter. A strong zone defense appeared to take the Monarchs out of their offensive rhythm and Pasadena forced five turnovers in Mater Dei's last six possessions of the quarter.  A free throw and a jumper by Rice gave Pasadena a 19-18 first-quarter lead.

King 66, Redondo Union 57

From the LA Times
By Rob Fernas

This time, Marvin Lea refused to allow Riverside King to lose. The senior guard scored 11 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter to help the Wolves avenge their biggest loss of the season and knock Redondo out of the state playoffs Saturday night at Redondo. "I wasn't going to let my team come this far and lose," said Lea, who also led King with 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Forward Leon Rosborough scored 18 points, including five three-point baskets, for King (29-4), which will play Mater Dei in the regional final next Saturday at Long Beach Arena. The Wolves had lost to Redondo, 71-70, last week in the Southern Section Division II-A final on Wendell White's last-second three-point basket. But there were no late heroics for the Sea Hawks (24-7) in the rematch. Lea made sure of that. With King trailing by one, the 6-foot-3 left-hander completed a three-point play to give the Wolves the lead for good and followed with a three-point basket for a 51-46 lead with 5:41 to play. King's lead grew to 58-50 after a three-pointer by Garrett Hilt with 3:39 left. Redondo cut the deficit to 60-56, but Lea responded by driving the length of the court for a basket and a 62-56 lead with 1:10 to play.  Keith Ellison led Redondo with 25 points and forward Adam Zahn had 11 points and 14 rebounds. White, the hero of last week's game, was benched early in the third quarter with four fouls and scored only eight points, missing all five of his three-point attempts, before fouling out with 56 seconds left. Rosborough and Matt Thomas, another King starter, fouled out in the final 1:38. Rob Fernas

From the Riverside Press-Enterprise
King in regional finale
By Matt Jocks

REDONDO BEACH - Marvin Lea plays basketball at high volume and high pace, but in the biggest game of his life, patience might have been his biggest virtue.  Shaking off a rough start, Lea and Riverside King gradually took over the game Saturday as the Wolves settled a score with Redondo, winning 66-57 to reach the Southern California regional title game.  A week earlier, Redondo (24-7) had stunned King (29-4) with a desperate, game-winning three-pointer in the closing seconds. By the time those seconds came around Saturday, King was merely dribbling out the clock.   Lea scored 11 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter, including eight in a span of 1:31 early in the period. As usual, Lea's shooting numbers (11 of 31) weren't pretty, but the results were.  "We missed wide open shot after wide open shot early," King coach Tim Sweeney Jr. said. "I told them `Keep shooting. Those are going to fall.' "  Redondo led by nine after the first quarter, but with Leon Rosborough scoring 13 of his 18 points in the second quarter, King grabbed a one-point halftime lead.  Lea and Rosborough scored all but one of King's 30 points in the half.  With Redondo sitting in a zone early, King was content to fire from long range. The  Wolves launched 21 three-point attempts in the half, hitting eight and doing  enough damage to force the Sea Hawks out of the zone.  In the second half, King was able to get its running game going, wearing down a bigger, slower Redondo team.  Redondo's Wendell White may have beaten King from long distance in the Southern Section title game, but he couldn't do it from the bench. And that's where he spent most of the second half after picking up his fourth foul 1:24 into the third quarter. White scored four second-half points before fouling out with 11 seconds to go.   "The fact that he and a couple of other kids were in foul trouble really helped," Sweeney said. "When that happened, Marvin was unstoppable.   "Quite frankly, those were some of the calls we felt we didn't get in the championship game. They (the officials) let them play there, but they kept this game under control."  After Lea put the Wolves ahead early in the fourth quarter, Redondo made one serious run. Rosborough fouled out, drawing three fouls in a 1:37 span, and Redondo cut the gap to 60-56 with 1:17 left.  But with his customary flair for the dramatic, Lea went coast-to-coast following a missed free throw for a slashing layin that effectively sealed the outcome.  "The biggest difference between this and last week was that we stayed patient," Lea said. "We knew they'd come out in a zone and we practiced for that all week."  Rosborough was held to two points in the second half, but was the main reason Adam Zahn, Redondo's top offensive threat, was held to 11 points.   KING (29-4) -- Ellis 3, Lea 32, Hilt 3, Thomas 5, Rosborough 18, Goodman 5. REDONDO (24-7) -- Topps 6, Ellison 25, Zahn 11, White 8, Meynen 4, Walker 2, Gutierrez 1.  Halftime score -- King 30-29. Three-point field goals -- Lea 4, Hilt, Rosborough 5, Ellison 3, Zahn. Fouled out -- Thomas, Rosborough, White. Total fouls -- King 18, Redondo 25.  

From the Daily Breeze
Redondo boys go cold, lose regional semifinal
By Vincent D'Angelo, Correspondent

The Redondo boys basketball team built a nine-point first-quarter lead, but was unable to hold on and lost, 66-57, to visiting Martin Luther King of Riverside on Saturday night in a CIF Southern California Division II Regional semifinal. The game was a rematch of the Southern Section Division II-A championship played a week earlier at the Pond. Redondo survived a battle, winning that game, 71-70, on Wendell White's buzzer-beating 3-pointer. The war, though, went to King (29-4).   Wendell could not repeat his heroics the second time around. White picked up his fourth foul 1:11 into the second half with Redondo down, 31-29.  “I don't think King got (White) into foul trouble. I think he got himself into trouble. He really never got into the flow of the game,” Redondo coach Tom Maier said.  White did not return until the final quarter. When he did re-enter, King guard Marvin Lea promptly hit a 3-pointer, stretching the lead to five, providing his team with enough of a cushion to secure the victory.  Redondo (24-7) came out hot in the first quarter, outscoring King, 20-11, with nine points from guard Keith Ellison.  But King came right back in the second quarter. Leon Ros borough hit four 3-pointers and Lea added seven points in the quarter. King took its first lead since the game's opening seconds on Lea's basket with 1:29 left in the half.  Despite shooting 48 percent in the half and holding King to 26.3 percent, Redondo trailed, 30-29, going into the third quarter. King attempted 21 3-pointers, making eight, and attempted 13 more shots than Redondo overall. “Rosborough got hot on us,” Maier said. “We went to town on them in the first quarter, but we made mistakes in the second quarter.”  With White out of the game, Ellison did his best to keep the Sea Hawks in it. The senior guard scored seven consecutive points for Redondo and his basket with 2:54 left in the third tied the game at 39 apiece.   Short of tying Lea's hands behind his back, Redondo was not going to stop the senior guard, who attempted 31 shots. While he made only 11 shots, Lea stretched the defense and kept the Sea Hawks off balance for much of the game. He finished with a game-high 32 points. The loss was the last game for Redondo senior forward Adam Zahn, who had 11 points and 14 rebounds.

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