SoCalHoops High School News

CIF D-III SoCal Regional Semifinals: Panthers
Beat Eagles; Saints Beat Dons--(March 12, 1999)

Upper Bracket

Washington Union 95, Chaminade 69

This one comes from our friend and correspondent in Fresno, Marty Hartwig:

"Washington Union Blasts Chaminade"

Tonight, Chaminade became yet another victim of an intense performance by Union, falling 95-69. Union came to play tonight, starting the game with an 8-0 run. Chaminade's first points came at 5:11 to go in the first. With Union leading 12-2 after a steal and slam by Deshawn Stevenson, Chaminade called a timeout with 4:22 left. After the timeout, Chaminade settled down some, but Union went on another run to lead 30-10 at the end of the first on a three pointer by Maurice Moore with seconds left.

The first quarter was remarkably clean. That changed in the second quarter, as the officials discovered their whistles. Chaminade's Scott Borchart picked up his second personal with 7:08 to go, and it looked like trouble for Chaminade. With 6:16 to go Maurice Moore stole the ball and laid the ball off the backboard to Stevenson for a slam, giving Union a 37-10 lead. Chaminade then went on a 9-2 run, sparked by whistle after whistle (Union suddenly had 9 team fouls with 1:24 to go). Union led 41-23 at the half.

In the third quarter, the whistles continued, with Chaminade's Borchart and Union's Carvell Wafer and Maurice Moore all picking up their third fouls. Chaminade edged a little closer, pulling to within 58-40 at the end of the third.

In the fourth, more whistles, Union's Wafer picking up his fourth with 6:09 left. Washington put the game away with intense defense and some great moves and scoring by Shamell Stallworth, going up 81-57 with 3:50 to go. Vonn Webb started pulling starters and going deep into the bench with about 2:00 left and the score 87-59. The fouls continued, Chaminade pulling a little closer for the 95-69 final score.

Union's Shamell Stallworth lead all scorers with 25 points. Union's Deshawn Stevenson, Deshawn Anderson and Carvell Wafer also scored in double figures. Archie Copeland and Maurice Moore came off the bench for some tough defense. Chaminade was led by Scott Borchart's 19 points, with Cayce Cook and Darren Tarlow also in double figures. Union finished the game with 25 fouls to Chaminade's 10.

Scoring by quarters:

Washington 30 11 24 30
Chaminade 10 13 21 25

Full scoring:

Washington: Stallworth 25, Stevenson 22, Anderson 14, Wafer 13, Moore 9, Taylor 8, Johnson 2, Fain 2.
Chaminade: Borchart 19, Cook 12, Tarlow 11, Canoles 7, Todd 7, Johnson 6, Arceo 3, Tanouye 2, Lawson 2.

On to Long Beach!

Trivia question (maybe premature) Has any school ever won boys and girls Southern Regional and/or State championships in the same year?

We thought we'd supplement Marty's report (not that it needed supplementing) with excerpts from the various stories filed in the papers reporting on the game. We'll try not to be too redundant. Here's one from today's Fresno Bee:

There was silence in the Washington High locker room as the basketball team prepared for Thursday night's Southern Region semifinal against Chaminade.  That was a bad sign for the visiting Eagles. The Panthers, ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 3, scored the first eight points and blew to a 95-69 victory in front of a packed gym.  Washington, which reached its third regional final in four years, plays for the Southern Region championship Saturday at the Long Beach Pyramid. The winner advances to the state final.  "Everybody was here early, sitting in the locker room," Washington guard Coupe Taylor said. "Nobody was talking; we were just focusing."  Chaminade never had a chance.   Sensational junior DeShawn Stevenson scored nine points, Shamell Stallworth had eight, including two 3-pointers, and Carvell Wafer scored eight straight as the Panthers took a 30-10 lead on Maurice Moore's 3-pointer just before the first-quarter buzzer. Washington led by 27 after Stevenson slammed a Moore's "pass" off the backboard with 6 minutes 9 seconds left in the first half.   "I think we played a very good game all around tonight," said Taylor, who along with Stevenson, was trying shake a cold. "Everybody was on the same page."  Washington coach Vonn Webb, who guided the Panthers to the 1996 state title, was pleased with the effort, but   "I still feel we can make better decisions on the floor," he said. "I want our guys to have that killer instinct. When you get a team down, I want them to stomp on them. You never know when a team is going to come back."

The Eagles tried, pulling to 49-35 with seven straight points midway through the third quarter. But the Panthers had things well in hand.  "We cut it to 14, and we had the ball," Chaminade coach Jeff Young said. "I don't know what happened, but something just changed the flow of the game. I looked up, and it was 20 points again."  Had his team not been the victim, Young might have enjoyed watching the Panthers in action.  "They're good. They taught us a lesson today - that's what it's going to take to get to the next level," Young said. "No one in Division 3 is going to touch these guys. They can play with anyone in Division 1."

Here's an excerpt from the LA Times reported:

Chaminade High had its season come to a screeching halt Thursday night against top-seeded Fresno Washington Union, 95-69, in a Division III Southern Regional boys' basketball semifinal.  The Eagles (25-5) failed to keep pace with Washington Union (24-6), which averages nearly 90 points a game.  Scott Borchart scored 19 points for Chaminade, which got no closer than 49-35 with seven unanswered points midway through the third quarter.  Shamell Stallworth led Washington with 25 points.  The Central Section champions play San Dimas, a 75-55 winner over San Diego University, in the Southern Regional final Saturday.

And finally, here are excerpts from Vincent Bonsignore's story in the LA Daily News:

It's not the first place that comes to mind when considering powerhouse high school basketball teams.  Surrounded by vineyards, strawberry fields and produce orchards, Fresno's Washington Union High sits on a corner in the middle of practically nowhere.  But come inside to the school's basketball gym -- affectionately called the Nightmare on Elm Avenue by locals -- and it's obvious that farming isn't the only thing they do well in this part of California. The three State Championship banners confirm that.  Just ask Chaminade, which came here Thursday night to play a Southern California Division III semifinal game, but were quickly -- and convincingly -- sent back to the San Fernando Valley with a 95-69 loss.    "They're a great, great team," said Chaminade coach Jeff Young. "I don't think anybody will touch them the rest of the way. I'm not sure there are many Division I teams that can touch them."  The Panthers (25-6) now move on to the Southern California regional final Saturday in Long Beach. They lost in the final a year ago, but only because star forward Chris Jefferies, now a freshman at Arkansas, broke his leg in the semifinal. "We feel like this is our year, especially after what happened last year," said Shamell Stallworth, who had 25 points. "We're playing well and shooting the ball well." The Eagles (25-5) end the year the same way they ended last season -- with a loss in the semifinals.  But last year Chaminade lost to University of San Diego in a close game. This time, the Eagles never really challenged Washington Union. The Panthers led 30-10 at the end of the first period and 41-23 after the second.  The second half wasn't much different, although Chaminade did cut the lead to 15 points with two minutes to play in the third quarter. Unfortunately, the Panthers ended the period with a 10-4 run to stretch the lead back to 65-44.   "I'm not sure what happened," Young said. "All of a sudden the lead was 20 points again."  Washington did it with 3-pointers, thunderous dunks, fastbreak layups and second-chance putbacks. They dominated Chaminade athletically, forcing turnovers with a suffocating full-court press and on the backboard.   Individually, junior forward DeShawn Stevenson (22 points) and senior forwards Stallworth (25) and Carvell Wafer (13) were too much for Chaminade to handle.  The Eagles were led by sophomore forward Scott Borchart, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds. Borchart started slow, but picked his game up in the second quarter and during a few stretches, was the best player on the floor.  "He's a big-time player and he's got two years left," Young said. "Those are the
kind of things he can do."

Lower Bracket

San Dimas 75, USDHS 55

We didn't get to see this game, and neither did any of our friends in San Dimas or San Diego who might have reported on it, so we'll have to go with some excerpts from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, which actually had a pretty complete story on the game.  Here's what we found.

San Dimas (29-3) stormed out to a 25-6 first-quarter lead en route to the win. D. J. Hackett led San Dimas with 21 points. USDHS finishes the season 20-9.  The Saints continued their march toward a state title Thursday at Glendora High School with a 75-55 rout of University of San Diego High School.   San Dimas (29-3), the Southern Section Division 3AA champions and seeded second in the Southern Regional, will play top-seeded Fresno Washington Union in the CIF Division 3 Southern Regional Final Saturday at Long Beach State's Pyramid, with the winner earning a trip to Sacramento next weekend for the state finals. Against San Diego, the Saints used an 18-0 run in the first quarter, led by as many as 26 in the second and third quarters, and never led by less than 15 the rest of the way. "I think that was the best we've shot," San Dimas coach Gary Prestesater said. "We knew they would come out in a zone and we would get some shots."

The story continued:

Leading 7-4 in the first quarter, the Saints went on their incredible 18-0 run that consisted entirely of 3-pointers: three from David Malana, two from Jason Greenlee and another from Josh Smith. The Dons went scoreless for nearly 4 1/2 minutes during the first quarter, and trailed 25-6 to start the second. "If we played them again, I doubt if they would shoot as well," Dons coach Jim Tomey said. "Everybody on our team can shoot the 3," Smith said. San Dimas was able to neutralize USD's size advantage by fast-breaking and hitting the outside shot. USD
had two more Waltons (Bill's son Chris and nephew Kam) than San Dimas, but D.J. Hackett, Smith, Greenlee, Malana and Tedric Williams were more than adequate for the Saints. "D.J.'s unstoppable," Smith said. "He made some big shots for us."   San Dimas led 40-14 in the second quarter and then 47-21 and 51-25 in the third quarter. In the final quarter the Dons (20-9) crawled to within 65-50 with 3:12 to play, using the press to force some San Dimas turnovers. Hackett wasn't surprised that the Dons didn't go to the press earlier. "We knew that they were big guys and that we could run on them," he said. Hackett, who scored a game-high 21 points, ignited the crowd and his teammates with an electrifying dunk over Chris Walton. The fact that Hackett was called for charging was inconsequential, as the Saints pulled away. Despite the fact that the Dons closed the gap in the second half, Prestesater was pleased with his team's effort after halftime. Another key for San Dimas was an impressive advantage at the free throw line, making 16-of-18 free throws, while USD made just 10-of-17. "This team is probably not as talented as some teams (at San Dimas), but they play hard and have big hearts," Prestesater said. Smith added 16 points and seven rebounds while Malana and Williams scored 14 points apiece for San Dimas. Mike Malloy led the Dons with 18 points, while the Waltons combined for only 13.

UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO (55) C. Walton 6, Olson 8, Green 1, K. Walton 7, Malloy 18, Ganan 9, Staggs 6. SAN DIMAS (75) Malana 14, Greenlee 8, Smith 16, D. Hackett 21, Williams 12, Grundy 4. USDHS 6 11 18 20 -- 55;  San Dimas 25 17 14 19 -- 75 Total fouls: USD 14, SD 15. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: Coach Tomey (USD).

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