SoCalHoops High School News

CIF State Division III Finals Game Preview:
Washington Union v. El Cerrito--(March 18, 1999)

State Championship Game--Division I
2:30 p.m., Saturday, March 20 - Arco Arena)
Sacramento California

Washington Union of Fresno has been here before, and they are making their fourth trip to the finals coming in this year with a  25-6 record.   The Panthers have a 3-0 record in State Championship appearances.  In 1988, they won the first Division IV title by beating Terra Linda San Rafael 76-55. In the 1985 Division II game, they beat Rio American 69-56, and in 1996 they again dropped down two divisions to take the Division IV Championship by beating Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa 56-42.

Washington Union was the top-seeded team in the Southern Regional Playoffs,  and was never really challenged, beating Corona del Mar of Newport Beach 83-53 in the first round, and West Hills Chaminade Prep 95-69 in the semifinals.  Last Saturddy, they easily dispatched a good San Dimas team in the SoCal Regional Finals 67-45, a game which saw Deshawn Stevenson score 31 points, including four three-pointers and grab 11 boards.  Shamell Stallworth had 15 points in the win over San Dimas, and several other players contributed as well.

While El Cerrito is the top-seeded team from the NorCal Regionals, and come into the game with a 31-3 record, this team has never been this far in postseason play. In fact,  making it to the semifinals of the NorCals was as far as the the team had been prior to last week's NorCal Final in which the Gauchos beat Lafayette Acalanes High 48-41.  The two teams had met previously in the Section finals, but the result was again the same with El Cerrito winning.   Other than Acalanes, El Cerrito's run through the NorCals was not particularly challenging, and in the first round they defeated Roseville Oakmont 65-45,  and San Mateo 71-55 in the semifinals.  As most people know, El Cerrito is led by the Big 3: Jovan Harris, Andrew Gooden and  Ermonte Jernigan.  Last weekend Harris had 15 points and Andrew Gooden hit for 14 points and 14 rebounds in the finals.

Here's a look at the two rosters:

In the NorCal Regional Finals Andrew Gooden continued to excel in the post- season.   Gooden, a 6-foot-10 post player who is bound for the University of Kansas, used his superior size and skills to devastate the Acalanes Dons for the second Saturday in a row. Gooden had 24 points and 16 rebounds in the Gauchos' North Coast Section win over Acalanes on March 7. He also had 26 points to eliminate Oakmont in a NorCal opener.  Gooden has been the dominating figure for the Gauchos in their drive to the CIF State finals. He averaged 23 points and 13.3 rebounds during the regular season, then helped El Cerrito glide through the North Coast Section Division III playoffs.  Jovan Harris, a 6-3 guard is headed to St. Mary's, while  Portland State-bound forward Emonte Jernigan is also a key force on offense. After El Cerrito High won the North Coast Section championship, Gooden and coach Chris Huber told runner-up Acalanes of Lafayette they would see the team again the following week in the Northern California championship game, and it in fact  happened as the two east bay teams met last week in the NorCal Division III final at Arco Arena. The end result was the same -- El Cerrito won 48-41 to reach the State Championship game at Arco Arena. In a critical play in the game, Jovan Harris beat his man on a drive for a key basket with 43.6 seconds left in the game.  Does Harris lack for confidence?  What do you think.   After the game here's what he said:  "When it's close like that, I always want the ball," Harris said. "My teammates know I want the ball, even if it's a YMCA game. I've gotta have the ball in crunch time. I know I can take my man at any time."  Gooden didn't have a very good day int he final, shooting  only 5-for-19 from the field to finish with 14 points, but he also grabbed 14 rebounds, blocked four shots and made three steals.  Historically this season, El Cerrito always seems to step it up in the second half of games; other teams play close for awhile and usually nudge the Gauchos into a better game in the second half.

Whether that will happen this weekend is anybody's guess.   The Panthers feature probably the top junior in the country in Deshawn Stevenson, who can jump and dunk as well as anyone in the country.  He's athletic, strong, quick and can pile in the points, as evidenced by last weekend's 31-point performance. We'd expect to see him guarding and being guarded by either Ermonte or Harris. But the Panthers are more than just a one man show as Shamell Stallworth, who is headed to USF is a capable scorer and he'll match up with the one that DeShawn doesn't get.  The one advantage that El Cerrito has over Washington Union is at the post position, where the Panthers are probably the lightest.  Keith Sconiers hasn't been particularly effective this year, and how he'll do against Kansas-signee Gooden is unknown, but we'd expect Gooden to get the better of the fight.  Gooden is not especially big, in the sense that he's not a wide-body, and as Acalanes showed last weekend, the key to defending him is to double and perhaps triple him.  With Carvel Wafer, and DeShawn Anderson providing additional threats from the perimeter, it may be enough to allow Washington to play it's usual running and pressing game, a style which El Cerrito is also in favor of playing.   Bottom Line:  El Cerrito will have to find a way to stop DeShawn Stevenson, and Washington Union will have to find a way to neutralize the height advantage of Gooden.   We'd look for El Cerrito to try to put the Panthers into a half-court game, where Gooden's size will become a prime factor on the boards, and we'd look for Washington Union to run, run and run some more.

Whoever wins, it's going to be one really fun game to watch.   See you there.

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