SoCalHoops High School News

adidas SoCal Basketball Classic
Tomorrow: Be There!--(Jan 29, 1999)

You've been reading all week about this event in most of the papers e.g., Frank Burlison's column in the Register, Louis Johnson's in the Press-Telegram, and even Gary Klein's LA Times' "Prep Extra" which described   the event as a "must see" set of games.  It takes place tomorrow, January 30, 1999 starting with the first game at 3:00 p.m. and the last game at 7:30 p.m.

We know you're planning on attending.  We know you didn't forget.  And we also know that nothing you're planning for tomorrow evening can possibly be as important or nearly as much fun as attending the adidas SoCal Basketball Classic.  Not the Clipper game. Not the Laker game. Not a Super Bowl party.  And both the Bruins and Trojans are out of town.  Other high school games?  Forget 'em.  Nothing will be as good as the games at Los Angeles Southwest College. Well, there might be a few things, but hey, there are children reading this.

LA Southwest College is located at the corner of Imperial Highway & Western Avenue. The event is still hosted officially by Long Beach Poly and Artesia High Schools. It's just got a new name (we sorta like the "So Cal" tag. . nice don't you think?) and it's now sponsored by adidas. The event will feature four games:

3:00 p.m. Game 1: Mater Dei v. Anaheim Canyon
4:30 p.m. Game 2: Verbum Dei v. Pasadena
6:00 p.m. Game 3: Artesia v. Compton
7:30 p.m. Game 4: Long Beach Poly v. Compton Dominguez

USA Today has redone it's national rankings, and now Compton Dominguez is ranked No. 10 in the nation. Artesia is still No. 14, and Mater Dei is ranked No. 15. That's in the country (of course we realize it's just Dave Kreider's opinion, but it's still impressive that these teams have garnered this
much attention). Every one of these teams (except Canyon and Pasadena) is a top 10 team either in Cal Hi or the SCIBCA poll. And even if you could care less about polls (we're in that group), you're going to see some great players matching up.

We've said it before, but we'll say it again. These are great matchups. In the first game, Mater Dei v. Canyon, you'll see the No. 15 ranked (USA Today) Monarchs' Mike Bayer, Steve Scoggin, Derek Mansell and Cedric Bozeman take on Canyon's Ryan Romberg, Neil Hammad, Roger Hogan and a
host of other talented Orange County players.

Game 2 features Marlon Parmer, one of the top point guards in SoCal, Dalron Johnson who has signed with UNLV, Washum Dashiell, a big time scoring threat, and the rest of the David Greenwood-coached Verb guys matching up against players like George DeJohnette, and Jasun Ridley.

Artesia, still ranked No. 14 by USA Today (as of January 26) against Compton will be a game study in contrasts both athletically and in style of play as Jason Kapono, Amaury Fernandez, Jack Martinez, Andre Hazel and the rest of the highly talented and skilled Pioneers match up against Tito Maddox, Ellis Myles, Leroy Dawson, Terry Hosendove and the rest of the quick and athletic Tarbabes. 

Finally, in the last game of the day, you'll see SCIBCA's No. 3 team, Long Beach Poly, and Wesley Stokes, Tim Thomas, Marcus Sargent, Kenny Wright, Rahman Shotwell, Shea Anderson, Keyon Cooley, and Joe Travis of the Jackrabbits, among others, taking on the incredibly talented and deep Dominguez Dons, who are currently ranked as the No. 1 team in Division II in the State, No. 10 in the country according to USA Today (as of Jan. 26), featuring Tyson Chandler, Keith Brooks, Keith Kincade, Ronald Jackson, Keilon Fortune, Larry Johnson, Steve Moore, and many others. 

Pretty amazing lineup: Four games, and at least three teams ranked in the top 15 in the country. 

LA Southwest College in located at the corner of Imperial Highway and Western Avenue and there's lots of parking at the college (there's a $1 charge for parking). We've been asked also to advise everyone that if you have any questions about the event, to contact the event directors, Joe Kapono or B. Shotwell directly. They can be reached via e-mail at USHOTWELL@aol.com.

Tickets are $7 and will be on sale at the door.

See you there.

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