SoCalHoops All-Star News

Ventura All-Stars Beat Santa Barbara
All-Stars In Vacation Classic--(June 15, 1999)

One last high school All-Star game?  Sure, why not.   This one was played last Friday night, and while we didn't get out to see it, we've heard plenty from our friends who were there.  And what they didn't tell us, we read about in the Santa Barbara News-Press on Saturday morning.  Not a lot of defense played but some very good performances from some of the better unsigned players in the two counties, including Ventura stars Jake DeGennaro, who scored 24 points, Brian Polen, who hit for 17, and Jeff Staniland who scored 21.  And can someone tell me why the leading scorer in Ventura County this past season, Jeff Staniland, is still unsigned?   Sometimes I just don't understand the minds of the college coaches, because here's a young man who can defend, run the floor, and hit from just about anywhere. Amazing that he's still unsigned.  

Actually the N-P carried the best story on the game, and rather than try to paraphrase it, we'll just quote it below.  Of course, it was mostly from the Santa Barbara perspective, but at least it's got the complete stats:   

Legans and Freeman shine in Vacation Classic

ShanTay Legans and Tony Freeman combined for 54 points but it wasn't enough as Ventura County outshot Santa Barbara 127-107 Friday night at Moorpark College in the 17th annual Vacation Basketball Classic.

Legans, the two-time county MVP from Dos Pueblos High, had 31 points to lead all scorers in the freewheeling contest. Freeman added 23 while Legans' Dos Pueblos teammate, Alex Jenkins, had 19.

Ventura, however, had plenty of firepower of its own. Mike Goldman of Calabasas scored 30 points while Jake DeGennaro of Westlake pumped in five 3-pointers and scored 24 points. Jeff Staniland of Ventura added 21.

Future UCSB men's basketball players Nick Jones and B.J. Ward of Santa Clara High did not participate in the contest.

Ventura also benefitted from a 27-11 edge in fouls (no one was allowed to foul out) and hit 25 of 35 free throws while Santa Barbara hit on 11 of 17 tries. 

"They outshot us in the second and fourth period, ad that was pretty much the difference," said Santa Barbara coach John Ward. "But it was a great game to watch the kids had a lot of fun."

The annual contest was held for the first time outside of Santa Barbara due to a home-and-home arrangement with Ventura begun last year.

SANTA BARBARA -- Legans 31, Freeman 23, Christ 9, Shelton 7, Kelley 5, Thompson 9, Gibbs 2, Alexander 2, Jenkins 19. Total 107.

VENTURA -- Staniland 21, Bobik 18, Goldman 30, Foster 11, DeGennaro 24, Lepisto 6, Polen 17. Total 127.

Santa Barbara	39	23	28	17	--107
Ventura	34	30	31	32	--127

3-point goals--SB 10 (Legans 4, Jenkins 2, Freeman, Shelton, Kelley, Thompson), V 13 (DeGennaro 5, Bobik 2, Goldman 2, Foster 2, Lepisto 2). Total fouls--SB 27, V 11.

We also heard from Larry Goldman, Michael Goldman's father, concerning both the game and our report that Glendale City College might be interested in Michael for next season:

Saw your story on Michael a little while ago. Although he has been recruited by 4 or 5 JC's, Glendale was not one of them. The interest in Michael has greatly increased over the last few weeks. Incidently, he scored 30 points and had 11 assists and 6 rebounds Friday night at the Ventura/Santa Barbara all star game. Ventura won 127-107.

Actually, the Santa Barbara News-Press also ran a very nice pre-game article, a sort of retrospective on the youth ball and high school career of Shantay Legans, who will attend Cal in the fall.  Here's Dan Shiells article from last week on Shantay:

Legans will take shots at Venturans

DAN SHIELLS

6/11/99

Growing up as a gym rat at the Goleta Boys and Girls Club, ShanTay Legans pictured himself someday playing in the organization's annual summer all-star basketball game.

Tonight he will get his chance, although the format for the game is considerably different than those played over the last two decades. Legans, in fact, turned down an invitation to play in a prestigious national all-star game to play in tonight's game.

"I've been going there (the Boys Club) since kindergarten," said Legans."  I promised (Boys Club director) Sal Rodriguez a long time ago that I would play in this game. Also, I think it will be more fun to play in this one with my friends."

Legans, a two-time county MVP for Dos Pueblos High, and Tony Freeman of Santa Barbara, headline an all-star team which will represent the Santa Barbara area against a Ventura County all-star team at Moorpark College at 8 p.m. A girls game featuring all-star teams for the two counties scheduled at 6 p.m. was cancelled.

David DePonce, director of the Boys and Girls Club in Goleta, whose organization benefitted from the annual Vacation Classic all-star games, said injuries, high school graduation and family commitments made it unable for Santa Barbara County to field a sufficient number of players to form a girls team.

The boys game should be a good one. Legans, who has signed with Cal Berkeley, loves to put on a show with his flashy passes and moves to the basket. A freewheeling all-star game is a perfect forum.

"My kind of game," said Legans, who averaged 24 points a game this year. "It should be fun." Likewise, the game offers an opportunity to see Freeman at his best. The local community only got to see a glimpse of his talent because he hobbled through the bulk of the Channel League and CIF playoff season with a leg injury. The 6-foot-4 guard/forward is fully recovered now and ripping up in summer league play in Los Angeles. His current intention is to attend an East Coast prep school (retaining college eligibility) and return to play the following year at UCSB. But that plan could change since his summer play has attracted the attention of several major colleges.

The Ventura team also offers some intriguing viewing for local fans: Nick Jones and B.J. Ward of CIF state champion Santa Clara have both signed to play next year for UCSB.

Jones scored 18 points in Ventura's intra-county all-star game. Ward sat out the game with an ankle injury but is expected to participate tonight, according to Venutra County coach Steve Johnson (Newbury Park). The only problem is that the game is being held, for the first time ever, in Ventura County.

DePonce explained that last year's switch from a Santa Barbara/Ventura vs. Orange County game to a Santa Barbara vs. Ventura game required the game be played on a home-and-home basis. The Boys and Girls Club will not benefit directly from this year's contest.

"The Orange County deal was turning out to not be cost effective," said DePonce. "We decided to make the arrangement with Ventura but, basically, they wanted to do it on a home-and-home basis. It still gives an opportunity to give back to the community, by giving kids who have worked hard a chance to play, but we may have to re-evaluate in terms of our fundraising effort."

Other notables expected to play for Ventura include Jeff Staniland, Ventura High's all-time scoring champ, and Channel Islands star Dwight Satterwaite.

John Ward of Bishop Diego will coach the Santa Barbara team. For purposes of conducting practices, he limited the team to South Coast players. In addition to Freeman and Legans, the team consists of Sean Kelley, Ben Shelton, Justin Thompson and Craig Christ of Santa Barbara, Alex Jenkins of Dos Pueblos, Randy Moharram of San Marcos and Jason Gibbs of Bishop Diego.

Carpinteria's John Barbieri, also an all-county selection, could not play due to a conflict with his school's graduation ceremony.

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