total impact at 4-D

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SoCalHoops Coaching News

Total Impact: Better Late Than Never--(April 20, 1999)

This one is about a week old,and comes from Eric Jensen, one of the coaches of the Total Impact team, which didn't play at the Double Pump Easter Tourney, but at the 4-D Easter Tournament instead. Sorry for the delay, but better late than never, right?

Total Impact Team Plays At 4-D Tourney; Looking Forward To AAU Regionals
By Eric Jensen

Total Impact ventured into the 4D Stars Spring Classic over the past weekend in order to keep all the cylinders rolling. 4D actually had some good teams in the high school division. Obviously the tournament did not compare to the action going on at the Double Pump 20 minutes away, but there was some good basketball played. A San Diego based team of juniors matched up with TI's sophomores and three juniors: Logan Steinhauer 6'-0" Jr. G), Keith Allen, and Rudy Brown. The San Diego team played very hard and showed excellent perimeter defense limiting passes into the post. This was significant because standout sophomore Sean Cole (6'-7" So. PF) from Pacific Hills was back in the lineup. However, none of the Total Impact post and forwards could get going and the game ended up being decided by the back court.

A sick Peter McCaslin (5'-11" So G) from Chadwick kept TI in the game along with good defense by Robert Rakestraw (5'-10" So. G) from St. Monica's in the TI press. What would eventually hurt Total Impact in this game was the substitution which turned out not to be tournament quality. A two point loss sent TI to the consolation bracket. In the following game, a blow out ensued. This was keyed by Peter McCaslin's 30 point effort. The win put TI in the consolation final. A California Hoopluv team stood in the way, but not for long. Hoopluv did not have a good press break and this proved to be detrimental as TI showed several presses. In addition the TI back court (minus McCaslin who was ill) was sizzling with the inconsistent Jermayne Potts (5'-11" So. PG/SG) from St. Monica's finally shooting to his potential, nailing several threes and ending up with 17 points.

Everybody got in the action here and probably most notable was the continued shooting stroke of Steinhauer who shot over 70% from behind the arc and ended up with 27 points. Hoopluv really couldn't stop the back court barrage and they could not keep David Harris (6'-5" So. F) from West Torrance and Marcus Shelby (6'-6" So. PF) from Saint Monica off the boards. Cole showed some great potential after a coaching adjustment, hitting his last four shots. It was nice to see Hoopluv's team trying to find a way to get back in the game. They were actually a very good outside shooting team behind Eric Ahumada (6'-0" So. G) from Bonita Vista and Hector Dominguez (6'-1" Jr. G) also from Bonita Vista. They managed over 10 three pointers in the game. Unfortunately that is all they could do as their inside game was missing completely. TI easily won the consolation championship. TI's next tournament will be the AAU regionals for 16 and under. TI has a good chance in this tournament if they can improve the back court defense which up to now, has been inconsistent. Potts has shown signs of a well balanced attack, and his decision making will have to improve if he is going to lead TI to the finals. With two tournaments and some league games under their belt, the AAU regionals could be the event that has every player on the same page. I'd like to mention that the 4D Hooprider team played with a lot of intensity. They are a good team and it would be nice to see them at some of the national qualifying tournaments.