marty hartwig on fresno washington union

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SoCalHoops All-Star News

Marty Hartwig: Fresno Washington Union
Beats Fresno Washington Union--(June 8, 1999)

Our good friend Marty Hartwig from up in the Fresno area, a big fan of Central Section high school hoops, sent us a personal note this morning, telling us that "the message board looks a little heavy" so he thought he "might send you something a little lighter to brighten your day." Well, the story about the Saturday evening exhibition game held this past weekend at Washington Union High did brighten our day just a bit, and hopefully it'll brighten yours too. Apparently the Fresno Bee ran a story this Sunday on the game, but we missed it, and according to Marty, he says "I've never really figured out their web site and couldn't find an archive. So I've paraphrased some pertinent facts and included my own observations. Probably not all that important in this case anyway, but we had fun in Easton last Saturday night." Here's what Marty had to say about the game:

How do you beat the '99 Division 3 State Champion Washington Union Panthers on their home court? Bring back the '96 Division 4 State Champs. In a game prompted by a "difference of opinion" between the current and former players at a barbecue Coach Vonn Webb held at his house to celebrate the championship season, the '96 team proved dominant. Somehow, Webb managed to get all the players to commit (there were no common players between the two teams), get permission from CIF and the NCAA to hold this grudge match as a fundraiser.

Of course, the game consisted of a lot of showtime. My apologies to the players that I don't have complete rosters, but a few highlights of the game were as follows:

The '96 team rolled to a 134 - 96 win over the '99 team, led by Arkansas' Chris Jeffries 53 points. Jeffries scored every way you can; long threes, monster jams and tip-ins. Demetrious Porter (Fresno State) ran the point for the '96 team. In addition to great ball handling, he got hot from three-point range in the second half and ended with 32 points. Other highlights for the '96 team included Alonzo Robinson (who apparently plays somewhere in Oregon) with 25 points and some tough defense against DeShawn Stevenson and Bobby Gilbert (Fresno City College) with 13 points.

The '99 team was led by Coupe Taylor (Alabama State) with 24 points and Shamell Stallworth (University of San Francisco) with 17. DeShawn Stevenson was held to 15 points (the threes weren't falling and Chris Jeffries tended to clog the middle a bit) but in my opinion wins the "most authoritative" slam award. It didn't rattle the rim, it rattled the whole gym.

Yes, it was a great show and a great way to raise money for next season's traveling schedule (St. Louis, Hawaii, Lewes, Del., and Los Angeles are planned). The gym was packed, the crowd was great, the players played hard from beginning to end, and as Coach Webb said (quote from Fresno Bee) "To me, [today] we did not have a loser, because everyone is a winner... to me."