SoCalHoops High School News

Nike Dream Classic: Manual Arts
Beats Long Beach Poly--(Jan. 18, 1999)

So the LA team beat the Long Beach team pretty handily. For the second time in as many days, Long Beach Poly lost.  Manual won this game going away, in a game that Poly never led, by a final score of 72-63.  It started fast and ended fast.  That's what happens when a team that likes to play fast, Poly, meets a team that likes to play even faster.  They don't call Poly the "Jackrabbits" for nothing, but these guys took a lesson in speed from Curtis Millage, Brandon Moorer, Johnny Hardwick, Ronald Cass and the player of the game, James Wright. 

Manual led this one 37-30 at the half, as this one was just a track race, with no real semblance of an offense on either team, and there was shot just about every twelve seconds.  Mark Mayemura of Rockfish described it best when he said, "There's a lot of running up and down the floor, some aggressive moves on the floor, and no real offense."  Mark was, of course, right, and it also was surprising that Manual was leading since Johnny Hardwick just disappeared again.  But Brandon Moorer, Curtis Millage, and James Wright all played quick, tough and aggressively in the first half to keep the 'Arts out in front. For Poly, Wesley Stokes was pretty much stymied on offense, and had some difficulty getting the ball to the frontcourt guys, and Joe Travis and Shea Anderson didn't really come alive until the second half. Wesley can jack it up from just about anywhere, and while many say he's the best in the junior class among point guards we sometimes question his fundamentals.

At 1:53 to play in the third quarter, Manual still led by 7 points, and every time Poly would challenge, Manual would just overwhelm them and come right back.  Ronald Cass wasn't doing a lot of scoring in the first half but then came alive in the second half, setting up at the top of the key for a couple of sweet shots off James' dish.  Cass has great footwork, and seals his man as well as anyone does in SoCal, and he was playing some of the best defense we've seen, using great footwork and body control to stop Poly's runs.  Brandon Moorer hit some key baskets.   Otis Belisle had a huge foul on Wesley Stokes, who managed to shake it off, but for a minute it looked like a retaliation play.

With 4:17 to play in the fourth quarter, the track race wasn't letting up at all, and Poly still trailed, but now by 9. Brandon Moorer hit some great slams, made about three huge blocks, including two late in the quarter on Johnathan Harper and Shea Anderson. With 29.8,  Wesley hit one of his trademark rainbow 35' three pointers to bring the score to 67-63, but then Poly was forced to do what they could and had to foul, sending Millage to the line, where he made both. On the way back down, Wesley shot another running three, but it bounced off, and unbelievably, Stokes got belted in the mouth by Millage, and after a couple more free throws, Manual won it 72-63.

We'd like to say it was a great game, and it was fast, but it wasn't really much of a basketball game.  Sure, there was a lot of running up and down the floor, tons of blocks, some threes and really athletic play, but by and large, it was, as most Manual games are, like watching a ping-pong match. Great if you don't want to get a headache, but hard on the eyes. Still it was fun. Big fun.

The final scoring for Manual was impressive.  James Wright had 28 points and only 1 turnover; Curtis Millage had 17, Brandon Moorer had 17, Ronald Cass had 8, and Johnny Hardwick only had 2; Gillett had 4.  For Poly, Wesley Stokes had 19, Sargent had 2, Harper 6, Wright 6, Pennman 6, Shea Anderson 7, White 5, Williams 1, and Joe Travis 11.

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