best in the west day one report

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SoCalHoops Tournament News

Best In The West Shootout:
Day One Results--(June 29, 1999)

We made it out for a couple of the first round pool play games yesterday at Artesia High, in fact just in time to catch the Long Beach Poly v. Fontana game, and as in other things in life, timing, as they say, is everything. And after looking at the scores from the previous games and talking with Frank Burlison, Dinos Trigonis and Louis Johnson about the prior games today, well, we evidently didn't missed much by not getting to see some of the earlier games which ended up being pretty lopsided affairs. And the game we saw following Long Beach Poly v. Fontana which was between Ayala and Harvard-Westlake was no real prize contest either. Take a look at the scores from yesterday and you'll see why:

Redondo 73, Compton Centennial 77
Mayfair 75, JW North 46
Artesia 108, Rosemead 29
Dominguez 96, Rosemead 32
Serra 42, Upland 73
Ontario 45, Crossroads 56
Long Beach Jordan 87, Bonita Vista 48
Clovis West 106, San Bernardino 56
Long Beach Poly 96, Fontana 88 (OT)
Ayala 72, Harvard-Westlake 45

So, we rolled into the gym just as the Poly v. Fontana game was starting, and this was quite a game, probably the best of the summer so far. Poly had Wesley Stokes (5'-10" Sr. PG), Ellis Myles (6'-7" Sr. PF), Jonathan Harper (6'-5" Jr. SF), Markee White (6'-5" Jr. SF/PF), Joe Travis (6'-7" Sr. PF/C), Rahman Shotwell (5'-10" Sr. PG), Adrian Martin (5'-10" Jr. PG), and several others, actually about 10 other guys, including this absolutely tiny point guard who couldn't have been bigger than 5'-0" but we have no idea who it was because he never got off the bench during what was actually a great game.

Fontana has a whole bunch of new, young players, including Travon Williams (6'-6" Fr. SF/SG), Jordan Walker (6'-6"- Sr. PF/SG), Michael Stephenson (5'-9" Sr. PG), who hit the shot of the game, a running three-pointer, a sort of one handed shot-put shot with only seconds remaining on the clock which sent the game into overtime. Fontana is a very young team, which will get a whole lot better next year, when they'll definitely challenge just about everyone in Division I. For now they are very talented, very good, and very young.

This game was one of those where you think at any moment either team might win, and Fontana just about did pull it out several times. Poly's biggest lead of the game actually came during the overtime period, but there was just some spectacular play from several of the Poly guys, including Wesley Stokes, who just seems to have taken his game to a whole new level. If you'd asked us a couple of weeks ago about Wesley, we probably would have said, "Nice guard, talented, takes too many shots, doesn't always make good decisions, but will be a good college player." We would have argued a bit with Frank Burlison who wrote two weeks ago after Poly played Mater Dei in first of the Mater Dei Tournaments at Ocean view that UCLA should just get it over with an offer him now. In fact after Frank wrote that column, we even questioned his sanity a bit.

But then we saw Wesley yesterday and now we can see that Frank was not hallucinating. Wesley has turned into the real deal, and has taken his game to somewhere that most players only dream about. His ability in a one on one situation to break his man down off the dribble, first hesitating, swinging the ball low to the ground, and the just exploding with an unbelievably quick first step, driving the the hole and not only making the shot but usually drawing a foul in the process, is truly a display of some great talent. Ok, maybe he still takes too many crazy three-point shots, and yeah, he's got very small feet, but so what. Oh, and he can defend too. Yesterday, he literally took the ball right out of the hands of Fontana's point guard who was attempting a crossover, and Wesley did it with one hand and before you could blink, he was gone, on the break downcourt.

How good is Stokes right now? How about scoring 43 points yesterday? Is that good?

Ellis Myles looked like. . . well, he looked like Ellis Myles. Strong, an effective rebounder, huge body and he really seems to be enjoying Long Beach Poly, far more so than he seemed to like Compton, and we don't know if it's the coaching, or just the fact that he now gets to play with his Belmont Shore buddy Wesley. Ellis sometimes takes a bad rap, and we heard it yesterday, as at least one scout-type and a newspaper reporter repeated the line made famous on that "other" internet site, i.e., that Ellis "plays like an old man" or that he's got an "old man's game." We don't really agree with that assessment, because Ellis (a) isn't an old man, (b) doesn't have the faintest notion about how the "old school" guys played, and (c) he played a lot above the rim yesterday, enough to the point where he had several thunderous dunks, defended well, and didn't, we repeat didn't, foul out. In fact he was downright civil to the refs, and perhaps the coaching he'll be getting from Ron Palmer will be a good thing for him.

Other guys who looked pretty good, but who are still a bit rusty, either from layoffs or from injuries were Markee White, Jono Harper, both of whom will be playing for Pump N Run Silver. Jono seems to have healed nicely from his shoulder injury, but his mom told us that she thought he was still hurting a bit. "It's the first game he's played since getting hurt right before Fresno," Mrs. Harper told us, but frankly, he looked pretty good to us. Joe Travis showed flashes of what he can do, but he looks a bit heavy and slow and hopefully with the running he'll be doing this month, he'll attract some big time attention because he can definitely be a nice mid D-I level player if he really puts his mind to it.

We were also very impressed with Adrian Martin and Rahman Shotwell, both of whom alternated at the two and occasionally when Wesley needed a rest at the one. Adrian has this new 'do and he and Wesley, with his 'fro, give new meaning to basketball fashion. . . prompting one coach in the stands (a coach who's team plays Poly several times during the year) to suggest that his entire coaching staff are going to purchase Afro wigs and wear them during the games, which would actually be pretty hilarious, a joke that Wesley would no doubt also appreciate since he's been friends with this coach for many years. But back to Adrian: He's lightning quick, an excellent defender, and if Wesley weren't on this team, he'd be the starting poing, no doubt about it.

Fontana has two really excellent frosh players, both from the same Pat Barret-coached SCA team which featured Harrison Schaen and Travonte Nelson (who are both now at Mater Dei): Trayvon Williams (6'-4" Fr. SG/SF), and Wesley Washington (6'-2" Fr. SG) both showed flashes of what they'll be capable of doing in a couple of years, but the jump from an 8th grade team to varsity ball will be something they'll have to adjust to. Trayvon tried to cross-over Wesley, for example, and Trayvon's long arms just seemed to get in the way, as the ball went left, then right, then back left again. . . except that the ball kept going left and Trayvon continued forward. . . freshmen stuff. . . But both of them show incredible promise, and even though they'll have to adjust a bit, they are clearly light-years ahead of the rest of the players (well, with the exception of guys like Richard Cobbs who's been playing against varsity competition all spring with Rockfish and Inland).

Jordan Walker (6'-5" Sr. SG/SF) looks like he's going to be, along with Michael Stephenson (5'-9" Sr. PG) the real standout on this team, and college coaches should definitely get a good look at him. We hear that he'll be at Double Pump's West Coast All-Stars, and he's worth a look. He's got very long arms, a quick release and he's an excellent three-point shooter. Stephenson is very quick, also a good shooter and he can defend pretty effectively, even if Wesley scored 43 points, because there's just no one around right now who seems capable of stopping him.

We don't know every player who actually played for Fontana, but we did manage to get their summer roster (courtesy of Ebony, who works more basketball events than you'd believe. . . really, it's like "Where's Waldo". . . she's everywhere. Thanks for the rosters), and here it is:

Fontana

2. Wesley Washington (6'-2" Fr. SG)
3. Danny Strickland (6'-1" Sr. G)
4. Jordan Walker (6'-5" Sr. SG/SF)
5. Aaron Gipson (5'-8" So. G)
10. Jose Gallardo (6'-0" Jr. G)
14. Cory McJimson (6'-5" So. F)
15. Chris Duran (5'-9" Jr. G)
24. Shedrack Obukur (6'-2" Jr. SG/SF)
25. J'Marc Perry (6'-2" Jr. SG)
32. Nick Johnson (6'-4" Sr. F)
33. Michael Stephenson (5'-9" Sr. PG)
34. Mark Mancha (6'-2" Jr. SG)
40. Marques Jackson (6'-4" Sr. F)
42. Trayvon Williams (6'-4" Fr. SG/SF)
44. Erik Crull (6'-2" Jr. SG)
50. Guillermo Ochoa (6'-5" Sr. F/C)

And while we're at it, here's the Poly roster:

20. Ramaan Shotwell (6'-0" Sr. PG)
21. Wesley Stokes (5'-11" Sr. PG)
22. Tim Thomas (5'-11" Sr. G)
23. Carlos Rivers (5'-9" So. PG)
24. Justin Marshall (5'-11" Sr. G)
25. Ellis Myles (6'-7" Sr. F)
30. Johnathan Harper (6'-4" Jr. SG/SF)
31. Adrian Martin (5'-11" Sr. PG/SG)
32. Patrick Phillips (6'-2" Jr. SG)
33. Lonnel Penman (6'-3" Jr. SG/SF)
34. Travis Wilder (6'-4" Sr. SG/SF)
40. Marquee White (6'-5" Jr. F)
41. Chuck Jones (6'-5" Sr. F)
42. Joe Travis (6'-8" Sr. PF/C)
43. Mike Roche (6'-5" So. F)
44. Jim Kresl (6'-8" Sr. F/C)
45. Mercedes Lewis (6'-7" So. F)

Just remember, that it's summer and some of these guys won't actually be in attendance, and even if they are, well, notwithstanding the fact that it's summer and these tournaments really don't mean anything, well, coaches still want to win, and some of these players listed are still seeing limited playing time. In fact, some of the players on both these rosters never saw the floor during this game. Oh well, there's still plenty of time for us to get a preview of what some of these teams will be like next year, and you ought to go over to Artesia HS this week and check it out for yourselves.

See you there.