SoCalHoops High School News

CIF State Finals Divison IV Game Preview:
Verbum Dei v. Christian Brothers--(March 18, 1999)

State Championship Game--Division IV
11:00 a..m.,  Saturday, March 20 - Arco Arena
Sacramento California

Verbum Dei of Los Angeles, coached by ex-Verbum Dei legend David Greenwood, also of the UCLA Bruins and Chicago Bulls, leads the defending Division IV state champions into their second straight title game, and they are looking to move into elite company with a possible third title. Only six teams have won three or more boys championships, among them Mater Dei, Crenshaw, Washington Union, and Lakewood Artesia.   Verbum Dei was seeded No. 2 in the Southern Regionals, but there was very little doubt among those who have followed them all year that they would be the No. 1 team from the South.  Horizon San Diego was the favorite of many to get to the final this year, but in a close game last weekend, Verbum Dei defeated Horizon San Diego, 68-62.    In that game, point guard Marlon Parmer had 26 points, while UNLV signee Dalron Johnson added 16. Verbum Dei comes into the game at 30-7, and they are the favorites coming into the final, with a huge height advantage.

On the other end of the court tomorrow will be the Sacramento Christian Brothers Falcons, who will be in their first ever State Title game.   They made it there by compiling a 27-8 record on the season, and they feature several standout players, including Emon Graves, who is averaging 19.8 ppg and 8.1 rebounds at only 6'-1",  whom many call the best player in the Sac-Joaquin Section of any division, Glen Maley, who is averaging 15.3 ppg and 7.1 rebounds per game, and Cedric Franklin who is averaging 15.1 ppg and 2.8 rpg.   CBS advances as Maley scored 22 points in the regional final win over Colfax (55-53) which turned out to be an extremely close game. Tied at 53-53 with three seconds to play, Colfax called a timeout, but since they didn't have any left, they were called for the technical foul,   and Christian Brothers finished it off with the t-foul shots.

Here's a closer look at the players. 

As you can readily see, Verbum Dei will just tower over the CBS players, and Verb usually goes with a starting lineup consisting of Marlon Parmer, Dalron Johnson, Washum Dashiel, Ricardo Suazo, and the only concession to the vertically-challenged is Jamaal Dean at 5'-11" (but actually we think he's closer to 6'-0".  Verbum Dei can play a half court game, they can trap, press, or run all day with anyone, and it's going to be amazingly hard for CBS to stop the Eagles. If they throw all their attention on stopping Marlon, who is one of the hottest prospect right now with his stock just climbing and climbing among college coaches, even if he doesn't have a right hand, they'll have to face the fact that Verbum can then go inside and use both Dalron and Nick Dobson at the same time as twin-towers, and then what's CBS going to do about that?

And like him or not, Verbum also has some height-restricted players who can matchup very well man-for-man if Greenwood decides to go small, and we're talking really small here with a backup point like Huston Holley who at 5'-5" doesn't usually present much of a challenge for penetration off the dribble, but he can push the ball up the floor against even the toughest pressure.   We would not look for CBS to try to get into a half court game with Verb, because they have absolutely zero advantage on the boards, but if they do go slow and half-court, look for them to just bomb them in from the outside. But that's not really CBS' style.

The Falcon's style of play is to run, run, and run some more, kind of like a track meet on a 90-foot floor. It has to be since no starter is taller than 6-3. Their 42-year old coach is the tallest one in school colors at 6-5, and their tallest player is 14-year old freshman Matt Traverso, a 6-4 wide body and the heir apparent to Graves to become The Franchise. The Sacramento Bee today ran a story on Emon Graves, and in it they said of the size difference between themselves and most opponents: "The Falcons play Lilliputians to their opponents' Gulliver. But at 28-7 they've toppled more than a few giants."

We've been hearing a lot about these guys all year, but here are some excerpts from the Bee story published today. We've edited it so that it's organized by player. Here's what we found out:

Coach Jim Stephens:  Stephens instructs long, intense practices, all in an effort to hammer home the point of how to box out, how to move your feet, how to play bigger than you are. Players celebrate when someone makes a free throw in a drill to spare more of those dreaded sprints to the far wall. The coach even gets into the act. Stephens runs sprints (OK, he lumbers) and he shoots jumpers to keep loose with his athletes. An accomplished power forward at Rio Americano in the 1970s who went on to play seven years professionally in Australia, Stephens used to challenge his players to one-on-one games.  He has kept mum this year.  Referring to Graves, he said "I've never lost to a high school kid, but I quit while I was ahead," he said with a chuckle. Graves said he'd eat his coach alive, offering head fakes, spin moves and maybe a dunk for good measure.CBS has bonded. Players ham it up at each other's homes on weekends. They take the same classes, they strive for the same goals, and every postseason victory has been cause for group hugs among themselves and the student body. 

Emon Graves: Graves suffers from allergies, weak ankles, and has to play with four different kinds of allergy medications and an inhaler available. But he says none of that bothers him:  "You have to play with pain because pain is a part of life," Graves said. "I take four different kinds of medication, and I always have an inhaler ready. People tease me that I've got to have my drugs to play, but it's not like that. It's survival."  Regardless of any infirmities he may have medically, he's still the heart and soul of this team, and it's highest scorer, averaging 19.8 point per game, and 8.1 reobunds.  Graves is a mixture of brawn, and grace. Someone forgot to tell him that he's only 6-1 and that bodies this small aren't supposed to weave among the trees for layups, hook shots and baseline blasts. "It could be years before we see another player with the heart of a lion like Emon," CBS coach Jim Stephens said. "Talk about great drive." Graves has been the focal point, the leading scorer who has gutted out tender ankles that he has taped up like mini casts. He scores and he defends the opponent's best player, no matter how big. "Emon's the best player in the area," Jesuit coach Hank Meyer said. "He's very workman-like, and he's very humble. He goes out and kicks your butt, and then he leaves." Yet a ferocious game face belies his low-key, kindly demeanor off the floor. Graves is the baritone voice in English class that draws attention, the one that sings in the church choir, and makes announcements over the public address system.   His favorite gag is to impersonate a radio disc jockey, or to drum up a few notes from a Barry White tune in the CBS quad, much to the glee of his pals. "Barry's the one guy I can imitate because I can match his voice," Graves says with a laughed. "I mess with my friends on that a lot. I'd love to be a late-night DJ who plays oldies so I can use my voice to talk real slow to get people in the mood."   Graves plays in front of a throng of aunts and uncles and family friends. He's become a household name at Sacramento City College, where his mother Eunice works as the director of child development, the little blur who would run laps on the track while his mother finished up the paper work. Eunice has pulled the reins on her youngest son, urging him to slow down to let his tender ankles heal, practically dragging him to the hospital two years ago to set a broken finger he had been playing with. Graves' best friend is his father, James, who introduced Emon to sports and weight lifting. James is a state correctional officer in Salinas. He makes it home in time for the games. Emon and father act alike, tell the same jokes that only they seem to get and sing songs that they made up years ago at church retreats. "You hear about so many sad stories about kids from good families who succumb to peer pressure of the streets, and we see Emon and we're so proud," Eunice said. "This is a kid who in seventh grade wasn't much of a team player, and now you look at how hard he plays, how good he is. We look at each other and think, 'Wow, look at our child. We did this?' "

T. J. Jennings:   Jennings, who sees the floor and can hit the big three, has enjoyed his best season, all of which is bragging rights material at home. His father, Rick, was a member of perhaps the Oakland Raiders' greatest team, the 1977 team that won Super Bowl XI. Rick Jennings now runs a nonprofit group that focuses on nurturing and developing young black males."We're glad people are excited about CBS again," guard T.J. Jennings said. "We're something to talk about again." Jennings and Graves represent half of the Falcons' Big Four, which started as the Promising Three. Graves, Jennings and Glenn Maley were the cornerstones of a 22-1 freshman team three years ago. They represented a bright future for a basketball program that had experienced both ends of the spectrum. CBS won the section large-school title in 1977, then bottomed out in 1984 at 0-26. The Falcons won a Division III section banner in 1990, but more frustrating seasons ensued. 

Glen Maley: Maley and Graves were full-time starters as sophomores and juniors and Jennings was in and out of the lineup with an assortment of injuries. Decent regular seasons were followed by quick exits in the playoffs. "We're all smarter and wiser and we've learned more tricks as seniors," said Maley, a 6-3 shooting forward. "We've come so far. We don't want people to think that we're just the other Catholic school here." Maley was referring to Jesuit, which took the baton from Kennedy as the standard for boys' basketball, with NorCal championships in 1993 and '94. Maley was born in Australia about the time Stephens was scoring 28 points a game in pro leagues there. He lives in Davis with his mother, Linda, who works in sports promotion with Marc Jones, the former UC Davis star who guided Natomas to a section title this month. Maley credits Jones for teaching him the game, and he looks to him as a father figure.

Cedric Franklin: As fate would have it, CBS has a Jesuit transfer in the lineup. Cedric Franklin was a Jesuit student his first two years before moving to CBS. He's a much better player now than he was two years ago, or even two months ago, a 5-11 slasher who can shoot and run the floor. Franklin is the jovial one of the lot, his expressions of joy or anguish evident on almost every play. He idolized his brother, John Hooper, when Hooper was an All-Area receiver for CBS in 1995. Younger brother would hold older brother's hand during game introductions, and then he'd try to emulate him in the back of the end zone in pickup touch football games. "John's my best friend, a real influence for me because my mom was a single mom," Franklin said. "I always wanted to go to CBS, but I tried Jesuit for a challenge to see if I could do it. When I learned that I wouldn't make the varsity, John was the one who picked me up and told me to not give up. We drove right to CB."

Matt Traverso:  He bangs inside with senior rebounder Jimmy Villa, is inspired by his brother, Joe, a Falcons football star.

Earlier this year, in another article in the Bee, we found this: " Coaches love to have players who can finish off the fast break. The Chicago Bulls were quite successful, winning six NBA championships behind two great finishers, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. At the high school level, Christian Brothers boasts two great finishers in their own right. Seniors Emon Graves and Cedric Franklin fit that mold, and in the Falcons' first Northern California playoff game since Monty Buckley ran the floor in the early 1990s, the Falcons' stars were at their best. Graves scored 28 points and Franklin 25 to lead host and No. 2 seed CBS to a 94-68 victory over No. 7 Gridley on Tuesday night, advancing the Falcons into Thursday's NorCal Division IV semifinals. "That is how I score: I like to go to the basket," said Franklin, who scored 18 points in the third quarter. "With guys like T.J. (Jennings) and Emon giving up the ball, it is very easy." Glenn Maley contributed 16 points and five blocks, and Jimmy Villa grabbed 11 rebounds for the Falcons, who now will face teams with significantly bigger front lines.

At tomorrow's final at the ARCO Arena, you'll see two teams with largely similar styles, but widely different physical attributes. They will mirror each other in desire, cohesiveness and unselfishness, that is if you want to call Parmer setting up high on the right side and powering down to the left block for his reverse-spin signature move to the basket, "unselfish".   But whether it's selfish, or just smart play, few people if any have been able to stop Verbum Dei, and they were one of the few teams during the season to beat the talented group from Artesia at the Best in the West Semifinal. 

So adding up all the tangibles and the intangibles, here's what's on the ledger:

Verbum Dei:  Height, experience and a vastly better record, more high profile players, and a coach and team who've been to the finals with this same team last year, and they won it.  The team has beaten some of the best in the state, and indeed some of the best in the nation.  Marlon Parmer is averaging about 35 ppg during the playoffs.  Dalron Johnson is a huge rebounder and with Ricardo Sauzo, Nick Dobson and Washum Dashiell, they add depth and talent. 

Christian Brothers:  Emmon, Maley and Jennings are talented and they have desire, but they lack height, they lack experience, and with Verb's pure physical advantages, about the best that CBS has going is the home-town hero factor in it's favor.  They're a good team which is playing well right now, but whether they are tough enough to stop the Verbum Dei juggernaut is what we'll all know by Saturday afternoon when the Division IV Champion will be crowned.

See you there.

©Copyright 1999 All rights reserved
Questions? Comments? Need Information?
E-mail: jegesq@socalhoops.com