SoCalHoops High School News

Time To Catch Up & Take A Breather--(Jan 20, 1999)

In case you hadn't noticed, we've churned out more than a couple of articles in the last few days, and we've watched more basketball than can or should be endured by anyone except the hardest of the hardcore hoop fans.  Ok, so we've sunk to the level of hoop junkies, but hey, that's why we're all reading and writing SoCalHoops, right?  We re-read some of our prior pieces written during and following the heat of the Dream Classic, and while some of them border on the barely intelligible, you get the drift of what happened during each of the games.  Maybe not as good as being there (what can be?) but still it's more coverage than the papers provide in most instances.  In any event, here's a recap of some of the better player performances from this past weekend.

Deshawn Anderson (6'-2" Jr. SG/PG)--Deshawn had a terrific game agaisnt Verbum Dei on Saturday at the Pump Hoop Challenge.  Hit for 21 points and recorded at least 4 steals that we counted.  Quick, tough, nice j, and best of all, the two DeShawns will be around for another year to give the SoCal teams trouble in State playoffs.

Mike Bayer (6'-7" Sr. PF/C)--had 13 points against Dominguez. Sort of starting to remind us of Brian Scalabrine: Plays with a lot of emotion, very active feet which will lead him to get called for traveling a lot if he can make the jump to college ball at the D-I level. Fouled out, but not before grabbing 6 defensive rebounds.

Rafael Berumen (6'-9" Sr. PF/C)--scored 32 points in a tour-de-force on Saturday against Sylmar at the Pump Hoop Challenge, and then socred another 24 points on Monday against Fairfax.  New Mexico is very lucky to get him. Major agility, good perimeter shooter for his size, great rebounder (12 on Monday, more on Saturday), and a great passer.  Has helped Simi to be more than just five guys counting stats; now they're a real team, unselfish, smart, and quick.  What more can you ask for?

Scott Borchart (6'-9" So. PF)--ok, Eric Sondheimer may be right, he may be one of, if not the best sophomore in the Valley, but (Dustin Villepigue at Simi is coming on strong).  Rebounds, runs the floor, plays defense and has great moves in the post.

Cedric Bozeman (6'-5"  So. SF)--had 14 points against Dominguez, some great shooting and excellent defense forcing several turnovers and also had 4 rebounds. The future of the team, along with Erik Soderberg, Mike Strawberry and Jamaal Sampson.

Keith Brooks (6'-7" Sr. PF)--scored 11 points and was just awesome on the boards with 9 rebounds, 8 of them defensive. Shot 5 for 10 from the field, and for a big guy had some great body control. A good free throw shooter, shot 4 for 7 from the line. Immense energy and intensity, but has the potential to be even more dominating if he gained additional consistency.

Travon Bryant (6'-8" Sr. PF/C)--huge upside potential which, from a scoring point of view is largely under-utilized on his current Jordan team.  Travon is smart, mobile, extremely well-coordinated,  knows the game, and can post as well as anyone in the junior class, but somehow never gets the ball much with Darren Peterson and Craig Calloway.  Will fit very nicely into a Bruin or Cardinal uniform in a couple of years. One of the top players in the junior class.

Craig Calloway (6'-0" Sr. PF)--Bobby Braswell is one lucky guy, and we think Craig is a real steal for Northridge next year.  He could have gone a lot of other places, but chose to stay home.  Craig scored 12 on Monday, and was a defensive terror on Saturday night against Poly in the win.  Had 6 assists on Monday, but most of those were to Darren Peterson, and not, as we would like to see, to Travon, who, like Dalron Johnson, served as a tall decoy player.

Ronald Cass (6'-3" Sr. SG/SF)--Best footwork of any player we saw on Saturday or Monday.  Can and will hit the three, and has huge desire to play and the skill to make it in Division I. We'd love to see him get some recruiting attention.  Would be perfect at a Loyola Marymount and could be as productive as someone like J.J. Sola if he got even half as much offense run through him as Sola does at Capo Valley.  Ronald is very talented, smart, and extremely coachable.

Tyson Chandler (7'-0" So. C)--Ok, so scoring is not his forte' anymore.  But blocking shots and rebounding is, and he had 8 blocks in the game against Mater Dei and generally won the battle of the boards against Mike Bayer. Finally fulfilling his promise at least defensively.

Chris Clark (6'-6" Sr. SG/SF)--Played great agaisnt Capo Valley on Monday, and Casey even let him score 14 points and he and his brother combined for 12 rebounds (6 each). If one is good, why wouldn't two be even better; maybe UC Riverside can recruit Chad as well. Chris sets screens and also shoots well coming off a pick or screen. Big time player who is consistently getting better.

Cayce Cook (5'-8" Sr. PG)--extremely under-recruited, Cayce can definitely play at the D-I level;  shot well, played good defense, and penetrated.  Seems to have solved his problem of over-penetration.  Hey, if Lance Buoncristiani at 5'-7" can play D-I, so can Cayce. Tough, quick and good court vision.

Errick Craven (6'-2" So. SG)--not the big scorer that his brother Derrick is, he still finished with 9 big points on mostly fast-break transition, but he's probably a more consistently even player than his brother. Jumps well, quick first step and smart.

Derrick Craven (6'-2" So. SG)--all the attributes of brother Errick, but scored 10 more points, to finish with 19 against Gardena Serra on Saturday night. Derrick is active on the floor, has very quick hands, and was responsible for the steal at the end of the game which led to Bishop Montgomery's win over Serra. Will be huge in two years.

Washum Dashiell (6'-3" Sr. SG)--we've always like Washum's game, and we like it even better after what we saw on Monday. He's athletic, quick, has hops and can shoot, and managed to come up with a team-second high scoring total of 19 points and a team high 12 boards. This guy deserves some attention, and he's certainly at least mid-D-I and should go this spring.

Kenny D'Oyen (5'-7" So. PG)--Very good matchup between him and D.J. Wyatt. D'Oyen only scored 2 points, but he must have had 10 assists, and pushed the ball very well on the break finishing with only three turnovers while playing in virtually the entire game.  Bishop Montgomery has just an amazing sophomore class with the Cravens and Kenny,  and this team will only get better next year.

Edwin Draughn (6'-5" So. SG)--quick, tough, strong, finishes well, runs the floor and is a great defender.  Too bad the Monsoons had to play Artesia in a league game on Saturday, because even though Eddie had a great game, the rest of the team never really had a chance agaisnt the Pioneers. Will be a huge player in two years when his recruitment will come to fruition.

Skip Esene (6'-7" Sr. F)--shot horribly on Monday, but played great on Saturday at the Double Pump Hoop Challenge. Still a major prospect who brings great defense, and he had 8 rebounds in the loss to Redondo at Pauley.

Noel Felix (6'-8" Sr. PF/C)--played a great game on Saturday, and then just tanked on Monday, only scoring 5 points in a miserable game.  Still, even on a bad day, can rebound with the best, and he had 5 boards, which is not much compared to Zahn's 16, but he did manage to alter several more shots.

Apolinar Fernandez (6'-9" So. F)--There's not much he can't do. Didn't have big numbers against Mayfair like he did earlier in their first game last week, but has speed, agility, depth, tremendous knowledge of the game for a sophomore.

Sandy Fletcher (6'-2" Sr. SG)--pushed the ball well on the break, but shot poorly (4 for 15 from the field) and he had 3 turnovers, 1 for 7 from three range.  This game didn't show his strengths, but if this is the extent of his weakness, he's still a D-I player.

Branduinn Fullove (6'-5" Jr. SG/SF)--Eric Sondheimer wrote a piece about him last week describing how hard he's worked in the off-season and during the pre-season, and if only half of what Eric wrote is remotely correct, it explains why Branduinn has gotten so much better. His ball control on off-balance driving layups under and around the basket is phenomenal. He's big, strong, and developed a quickness that was really lacking this summer.  Looks like he laid off the ice cream and stuck to running throughout the fall, because he's lighter, quicker and better. Scored 17 points on Monday against Fairfax, and had 27 in an amazing performance against Sylmar. One of the top players in Southern California.

Nate Hair (6'-5" Sr. SG/SF)--didn't have a great game against Glendora, only hitting for 11 pints on 4 for 13 shooting, but played very well defensively and was among the quickest players we saw. Will help USC. How much is really the $64,000 question.

Johnny Hardwick (6'-10" Sr. F/C)--You can't teach height.  You also can't teach heart or desire,  and Johnny remains a mystery shrouded within an enigma, within a puzzle. He virtually disappeard on Monday, scoring only 2 points to go along with his 6 rebounds.  Could be a huge scorer, but eventually people will stop saying he has huge "potential" unless he demonstrates it. Heck, Manual will probably win the City title anyway, and they've got a good shot at a state ring, so maybe we don't know what we're talking about anyway.   Just our opinion. He needs to step up though to make it happen.

E.J. Harris (6'-2" Jr. PG)--everyone keeps talking about Wesley Stokes as being the "best" among the junior point guards, but you can't leave E.J. out of that group of the top points. He's extremely quick, makes excellent decisions, and already looks pretty good wearing blue & gold playing at Pauley. Excellent defense against Tito Maddox and he picked Leroy Dawson, probably the quickest player on Compton, several times.

Gabriel Hughes (6'-10" Sr. C)--filling out and could be one of the best centers in the class.  Gabriel isn't getting a lot of recruiting attention, and we hear that it's partially because he has plans to stay local, perhaps at Fullerton if he doesn't go to prep school. Finished with 18 points, including the game-winning layup.  A great shot-blocker who will be a huge impact player by his third year in college wherever he ends up playing.

Brandon Jacobs (5'-11" Sr. PG)-- a strong point guard, played well, but not well enough on Saturday to keep Sylmar in this one. A great passer, connected for several really nice plays at Dominguez, but in the long run it was really not something within his total control.

Casey Jacobsen (6'-6" Sr. SG/SF)--Best player we saw all weekend.  The best. Not any doubt about it. The best.  No one, from an individual point of view even compared. It's frightening to think how good he'll be when he's surrounded by the kind of talent he'll have playing with him at Stanford.   You've already heard the numbers. 43 pointson 16 for 22 shooting from the field, 4 for 7 from three point range and 7 for 7 from the line, 7 rebounds, and only one foul in 32 minutes of basketball. Not a personal best, but darn near it.

Dalron Johnson (6'-9" Sr. PF/C)--played on Monday against LB Jordan, and he's suffering from what coach David Greenwood described as "signee-itis"; we don't know if we agree with this, but Dalron only had 7 points and 6 boards, and largely acted like a standing decoy for Marlon Parmer's drives, setting the high-post pick as Marlon sets up high right court and drives to the left block to make his signature spin move.   In other words, no one ever throws the ball in to the big guy, and he also doesn't seem to want it much now that he's signed with UNLV.  Great player, but needs to show more heart.  At least that was the opinion of several college coaches who watched the game.

Jason Kapono (6'-8" Sr. PG/SG/SF/PF)--Is he really the best basketball player on the West Coast?  Or is Casey Jacobsen? Jason had 24 points, an excellent game against Mayfair, and is still among the top two players in our view in the senior class. Smart, tough, should sign to play in the Pac-10 (Cal????, UCLA???) We'd love to see him stay in California to play against Casey during the regular season. What a matchup that would be in the Bay Area. We might even move north just to watch.

Earl Lewis (6'-5" Sr. F)--the big scorer for for Serra with 19 points on Saturday against Bishop Montgomery. Pounded inside and shot from the perimeter too. Earl is athletic, very strong and quick.

Tito Maddox (6'-4" Sr. PG)--played very inconsistently; can run and break, but just jacked up everything in sight and didn't score much in the second half at all; still he did manage 24 points. Could be a big time D-I player, and the Michigan coaches and USC coaches, and several others, including UCLA were there watching.

Derrick Mansell (6'-0" Sr. PG)-- Had one of his better games even if Mater Dei lost. Scored 14 points and had 4 rebounds, shot 5 for 10 from the floor, 2 for 2 from the line. Smart, quick and runs the floor. Shoots well off the dribble and can run the offense. Big time player who should get some big time attention.

Brett Michel (6'-5" Jr. SG)--could be one of the best shooters in the region if only the offense would go through him more, but that will happen next year after Rafael leaves.  For now, he's not doing too shabby.  4 for 7 from the floor on Monday, 3 for 6 from three, and 8 points against Fairfax and 10 points against Sylmar.   Smart, tough and atletic.

Shaun Michel (6'-2" So PG)--has gained the confidence to be a good driving and passing point guard, and by next year, he'll improve more and become a scorer.  Not big on points this weekend (4 against Fontana, and 8 against Fairfax), he's become one of the better "pure" pass-first point guards in the region.  Lots of time left to develop and a great base, size, athleticism and court knowledge to work from.

Curtis Millage (5'-11" Sr. PG/SG)--scored 17 points Monday on 5 for 10 shooting from the firled and 2 for 2 from three point range, 5 for 8 from the line.  Quick, great ball and body control. Great player.

Marcus Moore (6'-5" Sr. PG)--Played as well as we've seen him play ever, making impossible shots off the dribble, passing well, and even looking up while running the floor to see where his teammates were. Scored 14 points and had 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Should be getting attention from UCLA (but won't) and USC (will), and we think that between him and Marlon Parmer, Bibby will have met his point guard quota to give some assistance to Granville.

Brandon Moorer (6'-8" Sr. PF)--Texas A&M Corpus Christi really lucked out when they got Brandon. Had 17 points on 7 for 11 shooting. Great athlete, runs, jumps out of the gym and he had 4 blocked shots against Long Beach Poly. Now if he can just figure out how to transfer some of his ability and desire to Johnny Hardwick. . .

Jason Morrissette (6'-4" Jr. SG)-- Jason scored 16 points against Simi and at least that many on Saturday (we didn't keep track of his stats at the Pump Hoop Challenge).  Can drive to the basket almost at will, and when he turns on the jets is as fast as any 6'-4" guy in SoCal. Will be a major prospect this next year.

Marlon Parmer (6'-1" Sr. PG)--even if he can't go to his right, the kid can just flat-out play.  We wonder how long it will take colleges to figure out that when he sets up to drive, he's going to go left, but on Monday at Pauley in the Dream Classic, not many of the Jordan guys could figure it out either, and his 23 points and 11 assists came largely doing the same move over and over again; same thing on Saturday at Dominguez when he racked up 31 points. Quite a weekend.  UCLA is reportedly going hard after him, and he told us Saturday that a number of other schools are giving him attention, but was purposefully vague about it (we know, but can't say. . . really we can't).  Of course he likes a couple of local Pac-10 schools (gee, who could that be?), and we're certain that the "other" school across town would be glad to have a good point guard backup for Brandon Granville, especially after what happened Tuesday night at the hands of the Trojans.  Now, if somebody would just start recruiting Ricardo Sauzo (6'-5" Sr. SF). . . .

Darren Peterson (6'-4" Sr. SG/PG)--finally passed the ball some on Monday, and even though he didn't play the best "team" ball (when with Darren and Craig learn to give the ball to Travon), he did score 22 points on Monday at Pauley against Verbum Dei, and he also managed 3 assists, which must be something of a career record for him.  Terrible three point shooter, who carries a lot of bulk and looks like he might be great at football, that extra size will help him at the next level.  Very tough, and played with real heart both Saturday and Monday even if he has the rep as not being a "team" guy. 

Andrew Pleick (6'-4" Sr. SG)--Wore the weirdest looking piece of headgear we've ever seen and either he's undergoing heavy orthodontia or broke a bone in his face.  Played well, exhibiting some good shooting but only sporadically. Didn't have a huge scoring game Saturday against Chaminade, but impressed enough to show that Davidson made a good decision picking him up for next year.

Jamaal Sampson (6'-10" So. PF/C)--played only about 5 minutes against the Dons,but in the short time we saw him, it was clear that he's progressed enormously from when he was a non-playing freshman at Westchester last season. Good footwork, nice post moves, and will be a good shot-blocker.

Aerick Sanders (6'-8" Jr. PF/C)--very nice post moves, played well, didn't score a lot, but he and Gabriel Hughes were a good matchup, pretty even although Gabriel got the better of him late in the game. Will be a big recruiting target this summer and we'd expect him to make a huge impact in the playoffs in the next couple of weeks.

Darius Sanders (6'-5" Fr. PF)--There may not be a better "big" freshman in the rebounding department this year (ok, well there's his buddy DeAngelo Collins, but he didn't play this weekend at the Dream Classic or the Double Pump Hoop Challenge). Had 8 rebounds and was just a monster down low. 

Ricardo Suazo (6'-5" Sr. SF)--thin, wiry, agile, quick and smart, he can score when given the opportunity, but on the Verbum Dei team the offense doesn't often go through or even near him, and the result is that he doesn't shoot or score a lot. Very coachable, athletic, and should be mid to low D-I.

Steve Scoggin (6'-0" Jr. SG)--this guy never misses a free throw right?  Well on Monday, with a chance to tie the game up, he missed two. Had a really off day against Dominguez at Pauley shooting only 2 for 7 from three point range.  Good defense, but just had a bad day offensively, which is pretty uncharacteristic for this fine young player.

Joe Shipp (6'-6" Sr. SG/SF)--had great performances on Saturday in the win over Fontana and on Monday in the loss against Simi. Joe had 21 points on Monday, on 8 for 19 shooting, and he can get up and jam as well as anyone.  Joe is still being pursued by Villanova and by Oregon State and a couple of other schools.  Huge talent, extremely athletic and strong.

Craig Smith (6'-6" So. F)--Craig is usually playing the equivalent of center on the Lions team and playing out of position doesn't really help his stats.  Still, had he not fouled out agaisnt Simi, it might have been a different story for the team. Played very well against Fontana.  Had 7 points on Monday, which doesn't reflect his real athleticism and skill level.

Erik Soderberg (6'-9" So. F/C)--had a dissapointing game Monday against Dominguez.  Started, played 13 mintues and didn't score, getting only 2 rebounds. Tons of raw potential, getting better, but needs to assert himself offensively and defensively in the low blocks, and while running the high post.

J.J. Sola (6'-7" Sr. SF/PF)--most productive player on the team, he led Capo Valley in scoring with 19, led in rebounding with 5, and hustled his butt off, even if it does look like he's not trying very hard. Huge upper body that he's carrying around with him might need to be trimmed when he gets to Loyola Marymount next year, but so what? He's lots of fun to watch and was having a great time, even if Capo did get creamed by Casey Jacobsen.

Shamell Stallworth (6'-5" Sr. SG/SF)--Will be a huge player at San Fransico next year, and was huge Saturday with 23 points against Verbum Dei.   Smooth, quick, athletic. What more needs to be said; he also played very tough defense.

Deshawn Stevenson (6'-5" Jr. SG/SF)--Is he really the best junior player in the country?  We don't know about that statement, a bit of hyperbole by the other recruiting guys, but he's damn good. 19 points, 10 rebounds.   Good but not great numbers, but then this game is about more than numbers and he can jump, run and play. Still huge.

Jonathan Stokes (6'-0" Jr. SG)--had 24 points against Compton and Tito Maddox, including some big jump shots late in the game to help Crenshaw to the win over Compton.  Jonathan is extremely quick, tough and can shoot. He also had several steals and is really the key, as we see it, to the fortunes of the 'Shaw this season when it comes time for playoffs.

Wesley Stokes (5'-10" Jr. PG)--Is he the best junior point guard in SoCal? You'll have trouble finding anyone better, and while "best" is pretty relative, especially considering that Poly lost both games this weekend, Wesley has put up huge numbers, can drive, run the break, and shoots huge rainbow threes out to close to 30' with accuracy. We'd like to see more fundamentals rather than relying upon sheer athleticism (a few more two handed passes would be nice). Needs to get more consistency with his decision-making, but we also learned that he really likes playing at Pauley, telling the LA Times after the game, "Doesn't everyone want to come here to play?"   Whether he was just referring to the building or to the Bruins program was unclear. Read it however you want.

Mike Stowell (6'-3" Sr. SG)--why is this young man not getting recruited. Had 10 points on 4 for 9 shooting, not overwhelming numbers but if Sola and Hair can play at the Division I level, then so can Mike and he's possibly a better player fundamentally.

Darren Tarlow (6'-3" Sr. SG/SF)--strong inside player, didn't have a huge game scoring, but managed to stay out of foul trouble in this game Saturday agaisnt Los Alamitos.  Is getting some attention from several schools, all well-deserved. Good rebounder, hustles all over the place and shot well when he did shoot.

Brian Taylor (6'-0" Sr. PG)-got hurt in the game on Monday against Redondo, but still managed to score 10 points.  Not really great shooting (2-11 from the field) but did shoot well from the line (4-4).  Also not great "point guard" figures (only one assist and one steal in 20 minutes) but still very capable pushing the ball and passing.

Stanley Thorne (5'-11" Sr. PG)--scored 15 points on Monday agaisnt Simi, and was largely responsible for cutting the deficit in the second half.  Had 5 assists that we counted (the official scorer only had him with 2, but we think we're right). Stanley didn't display his best passing and dribbling, but he did prove he could shoot the three, not with consistency but he had two of them against Simi.

J. J. Todd (6'-11" Sr. C)--More than just big feet.   Rebounds well, and blocks. Didn't score a lot, but he contributes at both ends of the floor. And his younger brother, who is playing jv at Chaminade is supposed to be even better.

Jeremiah Turner (6'-6" Sr. SF)--a real enigma, we're still puzzled about why he doesn't play harder. We like his game, and he can shoot and is cat-quick on defense, but just absolutely disappears for stretches at a time on the floor.  Could be a D-I guy if he would make the decision that he's a D-I guy. Ah, but then things are never really that easy are they?  Had 11 points in Sylmar's loss to Simi, could have had more.

Dustin Villepigue (6'-8" So. C)--quick, agile, can jump, doesn't shoot much (6 pts on Saturday against Sylmar, 5 against Fairfax Monday), but he gets on the floor for loose balls, rebounds well and will be the next successor to Rafael and keep Simi tough for years to come.  First time we've seen him play and while he's still young, is pretty well developed. Great find for Dean Bradshaw.

Walter White (6'-5" Jr. PF)--scored 18 points and 12 rebounds in the opening game at the Nike Dream Classic.  He's managed to slim down, is quicker and is definitely one of the top prospects among juniors.

James Wright (6'-0" Sr. PG/SG)--is there a faster player anywhere in SoCal?  Well, it might be Curtis Millage, and it's a good thing they both play for the Toilers. James scored 28 points Monday against Long Beach Poly, and the fabled matchup between James and Wesley Stokes never really materialized until the fourth quarter, when there was a moment, just a moment, when James pulled up with Wesley guarding him, crossed over and quite literally "broke" Wesley's ankles.   Louis Johnson, who we were sitting next to, looked over and we looked at him, and both of us just said, "Wow."  Long Beach State:  You've got your man. Congratulations.

George Wrighster (6'-5" Sr. SF/PF)--we understand that George would like to continue to play basketball in college but it doesn't look like that will be a sure thing because he's narrowed his schools down to UCLA, Florida State and Arizona, and so far none of the coaches think there will be an opportunity for him to walk on, especially not at there. Even if he only shot 2 for 17, he's still a great player.   Everyone's entitled to a bad day. George just had his.

D. J. Wyatt (5'-8" Jr. PG)--smart point guard, quick, nice penetrator who runs the floor, and can break down a defender and create off the dribble. Fed the ball well to Aerick Sanders on Saturday at Dominguez against Bishop Montgomery, although we would have liked to see better decision making late in the game. A little prone to getting picked, we bet he's wishing he had the last play of the game to do over.  But for that, played extremely well.

Andrew Zahn (6'-9" Jr PF)--one of the dominant big men at the Nike Dream Classic at Pauley on Monday. Scored 21 points, and grabbed 16 rebounds (3 offensive,  13 defensive).  Probably the most agile 6'-9" junior around, and that includes Travon Bryant. His game is completely different than Travon's, but if the Pac-10 lets this guy get away, they're all crazy.

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