division 5aa finals march 5, 1999

CIF Southern Section Championships: Division V-AA
Santa Clara Beats Poly, 75-52--(March 5, 1999)

Pasadena Poly came into this game as the No. 1 seeded team, and going out they'll be lucky to be the No. 5 or 6 seed in the State Regionals. Santa Clara just overwhelmed them tonight as the Saints (that's right, we said it. . . the SAINTS not the Broncos) completely dominated this game from start to finish. Nick Jones, who was named Player of the game for Santa Clara, lit it up for 36 points, on 14 for 21 shooting from the field, 4 for 4 from three point range, and B.J. Ward hit for 16 and 8 asssists. Jones was literally unstoppable, and hit from everywhere, putting in pull up jumpers, fall away leaners, drives to the basket, those perfect 4 three-pointers, and 4 out of 5 free throws.

Santa Clara got to this game by winning the Fronteir League and was seeded No. 2 behind Poly, which had won the Prep League and which was looking for the school's fifth boys' basketball title. Santa Clara reached the title game with tournament wins over Holy Martyrs (70-37), Faith Baptist (62-38), Chadwick (81-60) and Pacific Hills in the semifinals by ascore of 77-56. Pasadena Poly had wins over Cate (61-20), Valley Christian of Santa Maria (81-38), Campbell Hall (40-34) and Desert in the semifinal by a score of 55-40. The Panthers had three players averaging double figures, including Koko Archibong who came in with a 16.7 ppg average, and who has committed to play D-I college ball at Penn. The Saints who are coached by Hall-of-Fame inductee Lou Cvijanovich, have two of their own D-I players, both signees at UCSB, Nick Jones averaging 22 ppg and B.J. Ward, averaging 21 ppg.

By way of background, here are the rosters, with the starters indicated by an asterisk (*):

Pasadena Poly Panthers

Santa Clara Saints

*11 Matt Lawler (6'-0" Sr. G)
12 Marshall Duncan (6'-0" So. G)
*20 Matt Easterlin (6'-2" Sr. G)
*23 Koko Archibong (6'-8" Sr. F/C)
*25 Ryan Haden (6'-1" Sr. G)
*35 Chris Roberts (6'-2" Sr. F)
43 Kirk Herald (6'-3" Sr. F/C)
50 Paul Haaga (6'-0" Sr. C)

4 Tim Scott (5'-9" Sr. G)
11 Alter Soria (5'-11" So. G)
12 Chris Post (5'-10" Jr. G)
15 Michael Madrigal (6'-2" Sr. F)
*21 Mel Angell (6'-0" Sr. G)
*22 Anthony Camper (5'-10" Jr. G)
24 Jason Angell (5'-10" Jr. G)
30 Eric Castaniero (6'-2" Jr. F)
*35 B.J. Ward (6'-1" Sr. PG)
40 James Chung (6'-3" Sr. F/C)
*41 Nick Jones (6'-4" Sr. F)
42 David Ramirez (6'-1" So. F)
43 Stefan Cvijanovich (6'-3" So. F)
*44 Terrance Dotsy (6'-4" Sr. C/F)
45 Earl Hall (6'-3" Jr. C)

We kept looking around for the rest of the Poly team, but then we realized that this roster of 8 players was it, the entire team, and while they are a very energetic, smart and athletic group of guys, they lack a certain. . . well, depth is the word we're looking for. When Coach Brad Hall pulled out Koko Archibong late in the third quarter when he picked up his 2nd foul, we were wondering where the real offense went.

Poly was never really in this game, even though they managed to keep it close at the half. In the first quarer they trailed by 11 points, as Santa Clara outscored the Panthers 19-8. Poly managed to close the gap some, outscoring Santa Clara 15-11 to go into the half only trailing by 7, but with the score 30-23, this was just not going to be a typical game for Poly, and they looked a bit shellshocked as they came out of the locker room. Simply stated, Poly had no answer for Nick Jones, who shot from wherever and whenever he wanted to. We don't know what Coach Hall told Koko and the group at the half, but whatever it was, it had no effect as Poly was outscored 20-10 in the third quarter, and 25-19 in the fourth.

Jones and Ward make a great pair, and we can't wait to see who they pull in the first round in the State Tournament, because right now they are playing better than any other Division V team anywhere in the state. Jones is a strong, athletic, accurate shooter, and Ward is just about the smartest and smoothest point guard in this or almost any other division among seniors (well, expect perhaps for Marlon Parmer of Verbum Dei, but that's a whole different story). As we said before, Jones finished with 36 points on the night, 24 in the second half. Ward finished with 16, 10 in the second half, on 7 for 12 shooting. Anthony Camper was the next highest scorer for Santa Clara, and he shot a perfect 4 for 4 from the field, and went 1-2 from the line. Michael Madrigal and Mel Angel both had 3 points, and Jason Angel scored 2.

For Pasadena Poly, Matt Lawler scored 11 points, and Koko Archibong, who is a very talented but raw player, scored 14 and pulled down 7 boards. Ryan Haden scored 6 points,but he played great defense. Matt Easterlin scored 8 and had a couple of very nice finishes late in the game. But the operative words there were "late in the game" and had he started earlier, it might have made a difference in the outcome. Chris Herald scored 7 off the bench, while Chris Roberts scored 2, and Marshall Duncan managed 4 points.

Nick Jones was selected Player of the Game for Santa Clara, while Koko Archibong was the Player of the Game for Poly, and coach Lou Cvijanovich was selected as Coach of the Year in the Division. And if you saw this game, you know that Lou deserved it, every bit of it, because he just did a great job in coaching this team throughout the year.

Both teams advance to the State Tournament, and we'd be willing to bet that Santa Clara pulls the No. 1 seed in the Region. As for Poly, who knows. They've got the weekend to recuperate and regroup. Congratulations to both teams and to the coaches. See you at the State Tournament.