nike game 5: Artesia v. Capo Valley

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SoCalHoops High School News

Nike Extravaganza Game 5: Artesia
Hammers Capistrano Valley--(Feb. 10, 1999)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. . . we're late. But at least we're here to report some of what you probably already know: That Artesia just kicked Capo Valley's butt all over the Cal State Fullerton gym on Saturday night in the first game of the evening session of the Nike Extravaganza IV. How bad was the loss for Capo Valley? Thirty points bad. The final score was 85-55, and aside from Mike Stowell's heroic performance scoring 23 points, on 8 for 11 shooting from the field, 1 for 1 shooting from three point range, and 6 for 12 shooting from the line, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, Capo Valley has got to be asking itself some very serious questions about where things stand just a week before the playoffs begin.

And they're probably asking those questions because if things work out according to plan, Capo Valley is likely to run into Artesia again sometime during the Division I-AA playoffs in Southern Section in the next few weeks. And if Saturday's performance was any indication of how they'll fare, Capo shouldn't plan on a long playoff run.

How bad was it for Capo? Well, things got started off pretty well, in fact it was a very good start for Capo, and they were leading 22-21 at the end of the first quarter. This actually looked like it was going to be a close game. Things got a bit off track though in the second quarter, as the Artesia juggernaut went to work, outscoring Capo 28-13 in the second quarter. At the half, Capo Valley was still in it, even if they were struggling, trailing by a score of 49-35, and with either team a 14 point lead was not a guaranteed win, not with players like J.J. Sola (6'-8" Sr. F) who will play at Loyola Marymount next year, Nate Hair (6'-4" Sr. SG) who will play at USC, and Mike Stowell (6'-4" Sr. SG), one of the best kept secrets and most under-recruited players anywhere this year.

But it was the first 16 minutes of the game, in which Kapono shot 9 for 12 from the field, 4 for 4 from three point range, and 1 for 2 from the line, grabbed 5 reobunds and scored 23 of his total 28 points that put the dagger in the heart of the Capo Valley players. In fact, the Cougars just never recovered from the first half, scoring only 10 points in the third quarter and just another 10 in the fourth.

Kapono was just dominating in the first half. There's really no other way to describe a 6'-8" senior offensive player who can handle the point duties, post up, and shoots 4 for 4 from three point range other than to say he was "dominating." That's an adjective that usually isn't ascribed to Kapono, who is a skilled player, but one who doesn't usually dominate a game. But as Jason told Louis Johnson of the Long Beach Press-Telegram after the game, "This was a playoff-type game for us, and we wanted to come out and send a message. I was shooting the ball with confidence, and that got me into a rhythm."

In the first half, Amaury Fernandez (6'-9" So. PF) also had an impressive showing, shooting 4 for 4 from the floor and 3 for 3 from the line while dishing out 2 assists and collecting 11 points. Andre Hazel (6'-0" Jr. PG) didn't score a lot in the first half, but he did manage to distribute the ball well, driving and dishing and he picked up 8 assists and only one turnover. . . in the first half. In the game, Andre managed 10 assists overall an only committed 2 turnovers.

It's not that Capo shot poorly (they shot 9 for 15, or 60% from the field in the first half), it's just that they didn't get that many shots off (21 to Artesia's 31, and only 3 three-point attempts in the half). Nate Hair was held to only 4 points in the first half, and Jermaine McDaniel (6'-0" Sr. G) had 6 points. J.J. Sola had 13 in the first half, but the most telling statisitic was that other than four of the five starters, no one else scored for Capo. In contrast, Jack Martinez, coming in off the bench had 10 points in the first half; Jon Steffanson had 3 off the bench, and 2 assists.

In the second half, it really didn't get any better, as Fernandez scored again, Kapono added another 5, and Steffanson came in with another 7. Coach Wayne Merino also game some of his other bench players a shot, and Marcus Crane came in and scored on a three pointer, Ryan Reyes managed 2 points, and Aaron Hamilton, who had started but didn't score in the first half, managed 8 points in the second half. Quite literally, Artesia turned this game into a rout with leads as big as 31 points at one point in the fourth quarter.

If one stat also stuck out like a sore thumb in this game it was Capo's almost complete inability to box out in the paint or rebound, mostly offensively. On the offensive boards, Artesia overwhelmed the Cougars 18-5, and overall the Pioneers just killed Capo's Sola, outrebounding them 36-15. While Louis Johnson of the P-T had Martinez with 15 rebounds, the official stats only had him with 14. . . ok, we'll go with Louis' figure. Either way, it was an impressive performance from Martinez who has one of the largest wingspans in high school basketball, just these long, long arms that seem to go on forever, and siginificantly, he had the only blocked shot in the game for Artesia. One high note for Capo: Nate Hair also managed the only blocked shot of the game for the Cougars, but recorded no assists and 3 turnovers. Oh well, you've got to take the bad with the good, right?

For Capo, it's time to start asking some serious questions about just how well they can really function against a team like Artesia. And for Artesia, it's quickly becoming time for them to start asking whether they'll be able to make it to Sacramento on March 20 for the State Finals. At least it's going to be fun watching them try.

Artesia plays today (Wednesday, February 10) at Cerritos and then finishes league play at home against John Glenn on Friday, February 12, and there's not much chance of them losing either game. The Pioneers are ranked in the SCIBCA poll as the No. 1 team in Division I-AA, so they will undoubtedly draw the highest seeding possible.

Capo on the other hand, plays Trabuco Hills today at home and then closes out Saturday against San Clemente, and there's no sure thing about the San Clemente game given the way the Cougars played against Artesia. They are, however also ranked fairly high in the SCIBCA poll at No. 3, so they can also be expected to be placed as the No. 1 seed in a different regional bracket from Artesia, so it's likely they may meet up again in the Division Semifinals or perhaps even the final.

Something for the Cougars to think about. And for the Pioneers to look forward to.