By Patrick McKinney
Exclusive to SoCalHoops

Verbum Dei entered this championship game as the defending Division IV State Champs to go with a 30-7 record this season. Christian Brothers was appearing in their first championship with a season record of 27-8. I got a chance to catch Christian Brothers early this season at the Jesuit Christmas Classic and, while Head Coach Jim Stephens is always fun to watch, state championship game is not one of the thing I was thinking of when I watched them. For one thing, they lack size. Their tallest player is Matt Traverso, who is good, but he is also only 6’5 and a freshman to boot. Verbum Dei comes across the front line at 6’9, 6’6, and 6’5 and the height advantage was perfectly clear. At this point, in the season, none of that matters. This is the time when heart and desire can carry you through 32 minutes. However, if the game goes 36, it might be a different story. CBS led only once during regulation but fought and scrapped and stayed in the contest. This game was extremely exciting, but unfortunately CBS fell short as the game went to an extra period, and Verbum Dei defended their state title, 74-63.

Coach David Greenwood started the following five for Verbum Dei.

Dalron Johnson, 6’9 Sr C
Reshawd Cobbs, 6’1 Sr G
Marlon Parmer, 6’2 Sr G
Washun Dashiell, 6’5 Sr F
Ricardo Suazo, 6’6 Sr F

Deep, talented, and experienced, the Verb knew what to expect entering this one. CBS lacked that experience, but their roster is deep in heart

TJ Jennings, 5’9 Sr G
Glenn Maley, 6’3 Sr F
Cedric Franklin, 5’11 Sr G
Emon Graves, 6’2 Sr F (see the SoCalHoops Championship Game Preview for an interesting story on this kid)
Jimy Villa, 6’3 Sr C

Here’s the ever-popular blow by blow:

CBS controlled the tap but could not convert and Parmer knocked one down from the corner to put Verbum on the board. CBS turned it over and Johnson banked one in. Maley got CBS on the board with a three, and the long range shots started flowing. Johnson hit one and Parmer hit a pair to put the Verb up 13-3 and forcing CBS into a timeout with 4:51 left. Out of the timeout, Jennings found Graves backdoor, and Graves scored again after a Verbum turnover. Franklin hit a free throw, then Jennings found him on that same backdoor play and the score was 13-10 with 3:17 in the first. Suazo put one in for Verbum, but CBS countered with a nice bucket by Franklin, assist to Jennings. Johnson scored, followed by Suazo and Parmer, who converted a three point play, putting the Verb up 20-12. Larry Davenport came in and got a putback, but Maley nailed a three to keep CBS within 22-15 at the end of the first.

Franklin opened the second by slashing to the hole for a bucket. Verbum turned it over and Graves found Maley inside for another deuce. Johnson scored on a putback, followed by a Traverso putback for CBS, and a high flying putback by Johnson. CBS converted a three point play as Franklin scored on a nice feed from Graves. Verbum turned it over on the inbounds and Graves was fouled, hitting one. At this point, CBS was down 26-25, but fell into a series of bad shots. Verbum went on a 6-0 run, before Graves cut it back to four. Both teams started missing shots and turning the ball over until a couple of minutes later, Parmer found Dashiell inside for a bucket. CBS responded with a slashing Franklin basket. CBS got the ball back, but Parmer picked Jennings and went coast to coast. Jennings dished one to Graves and Verbum came back with a Dashiell bucket from Cobbs, ending the half with Verbum up 37-31.

Parmer led Verbum with 15 points, while Johnson added 10 and Dashiell 5. Franklin and Graves led CBS with 9 points each and Maley chipped in 8.

The third saw an early surge, but Verbum came to control the quarter. Jennings hit a three. The teams traded misses until Franklin drove to the hole. Parmer got a couple of free throws and CBS came back with a three point play by Graves. Johnson scored for Verbum and Graves came back with one of his own. Johnson scored again and the Verb went on a run as Kyle Jones got loose inside, Cobbs scored, Larry Davenport hit a put back, and Huston Holley made a steal and layup to end the quarter with Verbum up 52-42.

CBS did not lie down at this point, however. They came into the fourth firing as Simon Lee drained a three. Nick Dodson scored for Verbum but Franklin shared with Graves for another bucket. Franklin got a couple of free throws and then made a long outlet pass on CBS next possession to Graves to cut it to 52-49. The teams traded buckets until Jennings hit from distance to tie at 54 with 4:17 to go. Verbum got a couple of free throws and Jennings found the range again to give CBS its first lead 57-56 with only 1:40 left in regulation. Verbum got a timeout and Parmer scored on the restart. Graves missed a pair of free throws and Parmer scored again, giving him 23 for the game and putting his team up three. Who does CBS get it to? Jennings, of course. He found it for the third time in the fourth quarter and the game was tied at 60 after four quarters had been player.

In overtime, however, it was all Parmer, who scored 8 straight points in the first three minutes of the extra period. CBS never got into the overtime and went down 74-63. No one can doubt the importance of the final score, but CBS had to feel pretty good about they way they competed.

Parmer led all scorers with 31 and Dalron Johnson added 21 points and 19 rebounds in the victory. For CBS, Franklin scored 20, Graves scored 15 to go with 9 boards. Jennings scored 12.