division 3A final 3/7/99

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SoCalHoops High School News

CIF SS Division III-A Championship:
Chaminade Beats Corona del Mar 45-40--(March 7, 1999)

Chaminade got to this game by slogging their way through one of the smallest brackets ever in the history of CIF Southern Section playoffs, an 8 team bracket, in which only 6 teams had qualified under the "league standings are everything" rule. Accordingly two other teams had to be added to this bracket to fill things out. One of those teams added as an "at large" entry was Corona del Mar, which had finished third in the Sea View League. Corona del Mar beat Banning 62-51 in the first round, and then beat Nordhoff 61-46 in the semifinals. CDM was seeking its first championship since 1995, when they won the IV-AA title. They were led all season by Dennis Alshuler, who was averaging 13.6 ppg and by Kevin Hansen, averaging 10.7 ppg. Coming into the game they were 18-9. They left 18-10. A little bit sadder, but wiser, and potentially better prepared in the event they see Chaminade somewhere down the road again in the State Regionals.

Despite the short road to the finals, Chaminade, coming into the game with a record of 23-4, almost got a scare in the semifinals when they played Harvard-Westlake for the third time this year, and it came down to the last shot of the game in the final seconds as the Eagles managed to pull out a 60-57 win at Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks. Still, Chaminade came into the playoffs seeded No. 1 and they are the defending CIF SS-Champs and were runners-up to last year's D-III state Champion USDHS, which defeated Chaminade in the Southern Regional Finals. Coached by Jeff Young, Chaminade came into the game with some high expectations from their top players, Scott Borchart (6'-9" So. F) averagig 15ppg, and senior point guard Cayce Cook, who was averaging 10 ppg. In addition to the semifinal win over Harvard-Westlake, the third win over the Wolverines, Chaminade also had beaten Estancia by a score of 58-31.

Yesterday, in the first game of the day, at 9:00 a.m. at the Pond at Anaheim, before only the faithful, Chaminade won their second straight CIF Southern Section title in Division III-A, by defeating Corona del Mar 45-40. But they almost took a wrong turn and dropped the ball. Almost. Chaminade was doing fine until a short stretch in the third quarter almost resulted in disaster. The Eagles were up 35-25 with 1:52 left in the period when Corona del Mar went on a 9-0 run, scoring seven points on one trip down the floor. Chaminade didn't score again until about three minutes into the fourth quarter. At one point, the Sea Kings actually led 36-35. But CDM really didn't have the legs to keep up with the breakaway, and eventually CDM folded and Chaminade woke up before it was too late.

With Chaminade clinging to a 37-36 lead, Chaminade point guard Cayce Cook made the play of a lifetime by picking off a pass near midcourt, then taking the ball all the way down the floor and making a layup, getting fouled and converting the free throw. A few seconds later, Scott Borchart, Chaminade's power forward of not only the future, but the present, also hit a layup to make it 42-36, and that was about it for CDM.

In the first half, Chaminade was led by Borchart who had 4 points in the first quarter and another 4 in the second, and Ryan Arceo who had 3 in the first quarter and 3 more in the second. Cook also had 5 in the first half, while Darren Tarlow managed four points. Erik Johnson, Clarence Mitchell, and Chris Canoles all combined for 7 points in the first half as well, and at the break, Chaminade had a 10 points lead.

But then in the third, came that near-disaster run, where Chaminade didn't score and Corona del Mar outscored the Eagles 14-5. CDM's run was led by Kevin Hansen who scored 14 in the game, and by Dennis Alshuler who finhished with 8 in the game. Both of them scored 6 points each during the run But then even with the third quarter spurt, CDM's shooting was anything but impressive, and in the quarter they were only 4/11 from the field and 6/9 from the line. But it was their defense that gave CDM the edge and the Sea Kings got 9 points off forced turnovers compared to just 4 for Chaminade in the game up until the start of the fourth quarter. And Corona was surprising for those who witnessed them, because they played with an intensity Chaminade has rarely seen from opponents this year.

Ultimately though, Corona del Mar couldn't overcome a six-minute scoring drought in the fourth quarter as the Sea Kings made only three of 16 shots in the fourth quarter and missed all 12 of their three-point attempts in the game.

Corona del Mar was led by Hansen, who finished with 18 points, and Dennis Alshuler, who made four of six free throws in the third quarter. For Chaminade, Cook and Borchart each scored 13 points. Corona del Mar made only 31% of its shots in the game. Alec Hanson missed all 10 of his shots. Alshuler was two of 10 and Hansen was six of 14. Other scorers for CDM were Morris Brooks with 2, Geoff Hunt with 6, Garrett Bowlus with 4, and Justin Shea with 2. For Chaminade, Arceo finished with 6, Johnson 2, Mitchell 3, Canoles 3, Tarlow 5, and Cook and Borchart with 13 each.