By Patrick McKinney
Exclusive to SoCalHoops

(Sacramento)---There I was, sitting with the reporters during Grant’s press conference, and most of the conversation was focused on the school prayer controversy. Apparently, some rabble rousers from Washington intervened and prevented the coach from praying with his players, at the risk of his job. Now Coach Lowden is a minister and this was a pretty deep problem for his team. The team really put it to good use since it helped put the loss in perspective. Things turned toward the actual game and Coach Lowden says, "I know people on the internet said it was going to be the blowout ever…" Now I don’t know where on the internet this came from, but it sure was interesting to hear the topic actually brought up. Enough of the sideshows (and more later), it’s time to turn to the game. Grant supporters turned out in great numbers this evening, complete with blue and gold balloons and an incredibly loud cheering section. A fight nearly broke out at the start as both teams wanted to have a little powwow at center court. Of course, neither wanted the other team there. After a little posturing, the refs stepped in and got the ball rolling.

Dominguez, 31-3, deep and absolutely dominating this season, started

Keith Brooks, 6’7 Jr F
Jaffus Haley, 5’11 Sr G
Steve Moore, 6’3 Jr G
Keith Kincade, 6’4 Sr. F
Tyson Chandler, 7’ So C

Grant, although seeded third in their division, is 34-3 with the advantage of staying at home, countered with

Stephen Walton, 5’11 Sr. G
Paris Warren, 6’3 Jr. F
Geral Lowe, 6’8 Sr. C
Jamel Pugh, 6’5 Jr F
Ronald Dosty, 6’6 Jr F

Both teams came out tight and it took a few minutes before either team really got to the basket. Chandler easily won the tap but Brooks missed the opening shot and Dosty took the board. Grant turned it over and Moore missed a shot, Brooks missed the putback, but the ball bounced back out to Moore who put Dominguez on the board with a three. Lowe knocked down a free throw to get Grant going and Warren scored on Grant’s next possession to tie it at three. Dominguez turned it over and Jamel Pugh scored. Dominguez got an offensive foul on their next possession, and Warren scored from the top of the key to put Grant up 7-3. The teams traded turnovers and Dominguez couldn’t buy a basket at this point. Keith Kincade drew a foul and hit a couple of free throws. Onterrio Smith came back to score for Grant, followed by a Chandler bucket, then Walton hit his foul shots after drawing a second foul on Chandler. Marcus Moore hit two free throws on the other end, and after a couple of turnovers, Pugh converted a high flying tip on a miss by Smith. The first quarter ended with Kincade stripping Zeph Payne and going coast to coast to cut Grant’s lead to 15-13.

Grant opened the second quarter with a miss and Dominguez tightened up their defense. After a Dominguez miss and a Grant turnover, Chandler got a free throw. Granted turned it over again, and Moore scored. Dominguez stole the inbounds and Chandler dunked it on a nice feed from Moore, giving Dominguez an 18-15 lead with 6:20 to go. Ronald Jackson hit a three and Grant called timeout. After the timeout, Moore made a nice dish to Brooks to complete a 10-0 run. The teams went back and fourth and the period ended with a steal by Jackson and a bucket by Kincade to give Dominguez a 29-19 advantage at the half.

Dominguez had a balanced attack in the first half, led by Keith Kincade’s 6, Steve Moore and Tyson Chandler’s 5, and Marcus Moore and Darius Sanders with 4. Stephen Walton led Grant with 6, followed by Paris Warren, Onterrio Smith, and Jamel Pugh, all with 4. Chandler was the only player in foul trouble for either team.

Dominguez began to look in control in the third, as Jackson and Chandler played a nice in and out game. Kincade scored on a put back and really carried the offensive load in the second half. The refs also tightened up in the third, sensing that the game might get out of control. Just about every trip down the floor resulted in a foul and a trip to the line. By the end of the period, both teams were in serious foul trouble and Dominguez surged to a 50-35 lead.

Grant turned the ball over to start the fourth and Jackson found Moore. Lowe responded for Grant, and Pugh added another basket. Walton drew a foul and hit one and Smith put back the miss to get Grant to within 10 at 52-42 and 6:03 remaining. At 5:57, Chandler and Lowe were hit with a double foul, the fourth for both. Smith knocked one down and was fouled, making it 52-44. Tyson Chandler picked up a technical foul with 5:45 left in the fourth and was ejected because he had five personals. Dominguez was in a timeout and Chandler’s replacement failed to check in coming out of the timeout and the bench was assessed another technical. (Somehow, at this point in the game, 2 extra points were added to the scoreboard, mystifying everyone, but it turned out to be purely academic.) Smith hit the free throw, 52-47, and Walton stepped up to take four free throws. He hit the first and then missed the next three and Grant would never get that close again. Moore scored for Dominguez, Kincade added a free throw. Pugh scored, Kincade answered. Walton scored, Kincade answered, and Larry Johnson added two more to put Dominguez up 61-52 with 2:45 left. Grant got into a situation where they were forced to foul and Dominguez made the most of it. Dominguez was strong down the stretch, weathered the run by Grant, and simply overpowered them to reach the State Title.