SoCalHoops High School News

CIF Southern Section Playoffs: Division I-A
Game Previews--(March 2, 1999)

We've put together some small previews for tonight's games in Division I-AA. If you want specific information on a player, or on a particular game played earlier this year by any team, use the "Search SoCalHoops" link on the lower-left hand side of the navigation bar. 

Division I-A Upper Bracket Semifinal

Glendora v. San Bernardino Pacific
At San Gorgonio High School, 7:30 p.m.

Top-seeded Glendora plays No. 4 seed Pacific tonight in a Division I-A semifinal game at San Bernardino San Gorgonio High. There was apparently some dispute about the site, but this is where the game will be played. After considering several other venues, Pacific will play at the site it has the past two seasons -- San Gorgonio High. There was speculation the Southern Section office would force Pacific to move the game to a larger gymnasium, possibly Cal State San Bernardino's Coussoulis Arena. Coussoulis costs $3,000 to rent, a price tag too high for Pacific. "If it's at Cal State it's because they're (CIF) going to pay the price," Pacific athletic director Chuck Pettersen said. "But how many tickets do you have to sell to cover the cost? It doesn't make financial sense." Pettersen told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that San Gorgonio's gym holds 2,000, enough to accommodate fans from both teams despite claims by Glendora it will bring 1,800 fans.  "(Santa Ana) Mater Dei told us the same thing (last year). (Irvine) Woodbridge told us the same (two years ago). They never did," Pettersen said. "I say, `So what.' It's first come, first served. It's our home game. We want to win." 

This will not only be the third time these teams will meet at this site, but it will be a rematch of  last year's division final won by Glendora.  This time San Bernardino Pacific (25-4) will try to force the tempo, and run with the Tartans (29-1), a team which has great inside and outside scoring and shooting. Both teams returned four starters from last season, making it little surprise each has continued to be as successful. Glendora, which defeated Pacific 56-50 in last year's final, seeks its third championship game appearance in four years. Pacific has been in the semifinals for four straight years.

Glendora is of course, led by Casey Jacobsen (6'-6" Sr. SG) who is 155 points away from becoming the All-Time Scoring Leader (note the caps) in the State of California;   he already broke the Southern Section scoring record, previously held by former Glendora star Tracy Murray. While many pundits and observers believe Glendora really only has a half-court game, the Tartans also have the speed and size to run in the open court and score in transition, and that's precisely how they beat Mater Dei in the early pre-season at the John Wooden Classic. Casey Jacobsen, who was also just placed on the McDonald's All-American Team (one of only two from California, Jason Kapono is the other), can shoot from inside, outside, and sideways. He can pull up for a j, drive to the hole, beat his man in isolation, or catch and shoot off a screen. He's joined by Chad and Chris Clark, Bruce Hatch and Michael Ahmad, in addition to a number of other fine backup and supporting players. Jacobsen, headed to Stanford, averages 31.6 points a game.

Glendora has marched straight through, pounding several teams pretty hard in the first rounds of the playoffs. In the first game, they played Mission Viejo, winning 78-41; in the second round, they beat La Sierra 71-47, and last Friday night, they beat Nogales by 21 points, 64-43. Pacific beat Silverado 100-90 in the first round game, then beat San Clement 98-93, and finally last Friday night they beat Santa Barbara 64-58.

Pacific has a quick, athletic lineup with four starters scoring in double figures. With no starter taller than 6-2, the Pirates hope to negate Glendora's height with their pressure defense. They do feature a variety of pressure defenses and can be expected to trap whenever and wherever they can, but we wouldn't expect them to run anything more than a box-and-one on Casey. Pacific has just barely survived in the playoffs. The Pirates trailed by 19 points in the fourth quarter in a second-round game against San Clemente before pulling out a 98-93 overtime victory. In the quarterfinals, Pacific nearly squandered an 18-point lead in a 64-58 victory over Santa Barbara. Pacific is led by their prolific scoring threat Chaun Ballard (6'-3" Sr. SG), and Chris Smith and Donnell Jury are also capable scorers with good athleticism. Pacific also features Mike Hall who has averaged about 18 ppg, and Joe Weber (6'-2" Sr. SG/SF).

Pacific Roster

Division I-A Lower Bracket Semifinal

Simi Valley v. Mater Dei
At the Bren Events Center, UCI Campus, 7:30 p.m.

What a great matchup, perhaps the best of any tonight, and since it's being played at the Bren Center, there should be plenty of seating to accomodate the huge crowds.

Simi beat Saugus in the first round, 81-60, then squeaked by Troy 60-50 in the second round, and finally beat Ventura 70-58. Simi Valley High is the top-ranked boys' basketball team in the San Fernando Valley and Northern LA/Ventura County region, but Mater Dei is ranked just a bit higher: Mater Dei is No. 1 in Orange County, and is also ranked 15th in the USA Today Super 25 poll issued today, March 2.  Simi is deep, but Mater Dei is probably deeper.  Which is not to say that we think Mater Dei will win, just that if Simi gets into foul trouble, or the recurring injuries which Branduinn Fullove and Rafael Berumen have been suffering with (both ankle injuries), Simi could be in trouble.

Mater Dei (29-3) has won 12 CIF Section Championships; No. 3 seeded Simi Valley (28-2), has only won one championship, in 1988 with a team that featured NBA and UCLA star Don MacLean. Since then, they've been knocking on the door, but this year, because of a slight decline in enrollment, they opted to play in Division I-AA, and avoid teams like Artesia (which is playing up from II-A), Jordan, Poly, and other teams who have traditionally given the Pioneers trouble in the past. This past Friday, Simi Valley's Branduinn Fullove (6'-4" Jr. SG) scored 21 points in the quarterfinal against Ventura
despite stretched tendons in his right ankle. We happened to run into Rafael Berumen's parents at the Rockfish Spring League this past weekend, where they were running the snack bar (great job folks) and they told us that Branduinn and Rafael are seeing the same physical therapist, and both are doing much better but not completely healed. And according to Dean Bradshaw, Simi's coach, Branduinn is "day-to-day."  But we're betting that you'll see him playing tonight, and for most of the game; it would take a broken leg to keep him out of this one. 

Simi really is a core of just five players: Rafael Berumen (6'-9" Sr. PF/C) who will play next season at New Mexico; Shaun Michel (6'-0" So. PG) who has finally started to come into his own this season; Brett Michel (6'-6' Jr. SG/SF), Shaun's older brother, who has been bombing them in all season long, and he's averaging about 18 ppg.  Branduinn Fullove (6'-5" Jr. SG/SF) who is also a prolific scorer, but just a tad slower than some of the guys he'll see tonight on the Monarch's squad; and Dustin Villepigue (6'-9" So. PF/C) who is young, quick and a capable shot blocker, but as of now, not a tremendous offensive threat, but he and Berumen together are capable of out-powering just about anyone Mater Dei can throw at them, including Mike Bayer (6'-8" Sr. C) and Jamal Sampson (6'-11" So. PF/C), who has only played in about 10 games this season, but is just a tremendous offensive rebounding threat. Bayer has played well, pretty much out of position all year, but he's a solid and steady player who has signed to play at Manhattan next season;  he'll have a new coach at Manhattan, since John Leonard was fired yesterday (or resigned, take your pick), but that's a long way away from now.  Derrick Mansell (6'-0" Sr. PG), Cedric Bozeman (6'-5" So. SF), Steve Scoggin (6'-0" Jr. SG) have all played well, with Mansell one of the top points in the region, Bozeman one of the most athletic and highest scoring three's, and Scoggin a deadly accurate and prolific two-guard, who is leading the county in three-point shooting.  But a lot will depend in this game on whether Bozeman and Jamal Sampson (6'-10" So. C) are healthy since both were ailing last Friday night. But even if Sampson doesn't get to match up against Berumen, there's still Erik Soderberg (6'-9" So. C) who can combine with Bayer down in the paint.

We'd expect to see Shaun Michel guarding Derrick Mansell, Branduinn Fullove and Steve Scoggin matching up at the two spot, (with a little help from Imran Sufi), Mike Strawberry and Brett Michel being a likely matchup, and Villepigue/Berumen and Sampson/Bayer/Soderberg trying to control the boards.  Great matchups, perhaps the most evenly matched teams among the first 6 or 7 players of any game tonight. Beyond that though, Simi just doesn't have an "8th or 9th man" because they barely even have 9 players on the roster. We're pretty certain that they've brought some guys up from the JV for the tournament, but who they are right now is a mystery. Guess we'll find out tonight.  See you there.

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