division 3AA final 3/7/99

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SoCalHoops High School News

CIF SS Division III-AA Championship
San Dimas Beats Bishop Montgomery 62-55--(March 7, 1999)

Bishop Montgomery was the top seeded team in the division, but the Del Rey League Champs hadn't won a CIF title since 1968. And they weren't going to win one yesterday either, so they'll have to wait another year. Of course they still have a shot at a State Title, but we don't know the last time a team lost the section and then went on to win State. We're sure it's happened, but this year it doesn't seem likely. Bishop came into this game with a record of 24-4, and left 24-5, having gotten to the final by beatingt Pioneer 67-45, South Hill s70-49, and Pomona 70-45. San Dimas came to this game with a record of 25-3, having beaten silver Valley 93-46 in the first round, Brawley 57-49, and Alemany in the semis 77-72. San Dimas and Coach Gary Prestater were in their third final in the 1990's.

In fact both teams had been here before. Both coaches entered Saturday's CIF Division III-AA final game with a combined 0-5 record in championship games. For San Dimas coach Gary Prestesater, he had lost three times while Bishop Montgomery coach Doug Mitchell, lost for the second straight year in a row. Mitchell's No. 1-seeded Knights, appearing in the final for the second straight season, lost their third CIF championship game in four years, this time to the second-seeded Saints, 62-55, at the Pond. After suffering through three championship-game losses earlier this decade (1992-94), Prestesater was given the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA title trophy after his Saints defeated top-seeded Torrance Bishop Montgomery, 62-55, at the Anaheim Pond.

San Dimas High School's D.J. Hackett scored 29 points in the biggest basketball game of his life Saturday and because of it, Gary Prestesater's lifetime coaching ambition was realized. If anything did Bishop Montgomery in, it was their dismal free-throw shooting. The Knights only made 8 of 26 attempts, including 2 of 8 in the fourth quarter. But that wasn't the whole story. Another major factor was the Knights' inability to slow Hackett, a senior guard who scored 16 first-half points to give the Saints a 32-22 halftime lead and finished 10-of-14 from the field.

Down 32-22 at halftime, the Knights, who trailed from wire-to-wire, closed out the third quarter on 10-3 run, including seven straight, behind five points by Kenny D'Oyen and four by Garrett Lee. D'Oyen's runner in the lane cut the deficit to 42-37 going into the fourth. In the fourth, though, the Knights faltered, not converting a field goal until the 4:50 mark. And while Bishop Montgomery struggled from the free-throw line, San Dimas made eight straight in a three-minute stretch to increase its advantage to 10. By the time the Knights' Errick Craven began to take it to the Saints, scoring seven quick points, it was too late. It also didn't help that Craven and his brother, Derrick, the Knights' two leading scorers, fouled out late in the fourth quarter.

San Dimas was led by 6-foot-3 forward D.J. Hackett, shredded the Knights for 29 points on 11-for-19 shooting, and scored nine points in the fourth quarter. Errick Craven said the experience was "frustrating". Craven, a 6-2 sophomore, led Bishop Montgomery for the second straight year in the final game. He scored 23 points on 11 of 19 shooting. Last year, in the loss to Chaminade, he scored 22. Errick kept the Knights in the game early, scoring their first eight points as they trailed, 15-11, going into the second. Montgomery couldn't sustain any momentum because of its erratic shooting, and with 2:28 left in the half, a Hackett dunk increased the Saints' lead to 13. D'Oyen, a reserve guard, was the Knights' second-leading scorer with nine. Lee added seven and Hughes, who at 6-9 had a decisive height advantage, scored six.

Smith contributed 12 points and eight rebounds for San Dimas (27-3), but also picked up a nearly-devastating fourth foul with 4:22 left in the third quarter. The Saints were leading, 36-24, when Smith was called to the bench. He stayed there the remainder of the quarter and Bishop Montgomery (24-5) closed within 42-37 as the quarter expired.

San Dimas' response was a deciding 13-2 run that included eight points by Smith and five by Hackett, including a driving bank shot. Nine of Hackett's points came on free throws and the Saints made 21-of-33. Infamous for creating shooting troubles for high school teams because of hard rims and the players' depth-perception woes, the Pond again was pointed to as a factor when Bishop Montgomery went 3-of-18 from 3-point range. San Dimas was intent on avoiding that excuse, attempting a series of higher-percentage shots inside the key and taking just three 3-point tries in the first half. Saint forward Matt Grundy made the game's first three with 3:22 left in the third.