kapono jan 26 99

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SoCalHoops High School News

Did We Say 50 Points??? Our Bad.
It Was 52. Kapono Is The Man!--(Jan. 26, 1999)

We're not sure about whether Jason Kapono or Casey Jacobsen is the best player in SoCal right about now. It could also be Gilbert Arenas. But there's no doubt about who this year's high-scorer is. It's Jason Kapono.

When we did our weekend update, we relied on the LA Times for the "high scorers" totals. Our bad. The Times said that Jason only had 50 points in the Friday night game against Glenn. ONLY.

Well, they were wrong.

As Louis Johnson points out in his great regular Tuesday column in the Long Beach Press Telegram, Jason scored 52 points. Not 50. 52. Fifty-two.

In doing so he became Artesia's all time leading single game scorer, eclipsing Ed O'Bannon's 1989 record of 50. Jason also racked up 18 rebounds and 9 assists in only 24 minutes of play. He shot 18 for 21 (.857) from the field. He shot 6 for 7 (.857) from three point range. He made 10 of 10 free throws (1.000 for you math majors). All in TWENTY FOUR MINUTES. That's 12 minutes short of a whole game, more than one and a half quarters he didn't play.

Johnson interviewed Jason yesterday for his article and Kapono told him:

"That's never happened to me before," said the senior forward, whose scoring outburst established new marks for his school and the Suburban League. "I really didn't shoot the ball that much. I just seemed to be making every shot. I didn't plan on going out and (scoring 52 points) . . . I just wanted to
play hard and win the game. It just happened."

So who's the best player in SoCal right now? We don't know. But we do know that Jason is certainly among the best if not the best right now.