long beach pool H preview

We finally got the rosters for the teams to go along with the schedules Dinos Trigonis sent us the other day, so now we can at least evaluate, on paper, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various teams in each pool. Some teams look really, really strong on paper, while others look pretty weak. Of course there's no substitute for actually seeing the games, and we're sure that notwithstanding how good some teams look on paper, a lot of people will be surprised that some seemingly lowly looking rosters will be one or more high-powered and well-regarded team.

We're going to list the rosters pool-by-pool, which will be a little more helpful and give you a way to actually plan out what teams you'll watch tomorrow, since the games on Friday (yesterday) and Saturday will all be pool play games. Here's what we now know about the teams and the schedule for Pool "H" (note: We'll include the roster numbers where they are available):

805 Express-adidas

Coach: George Albanez

1. Dominic Ingerson (6'-3" Jr. SG) Santa Barbara
3. Trey Putnam (6'-6" Jr. F) Santa Barbara
5. Chris Jones (6'-2" Sr. G) South HS Bakersfield
12. James Akinjo (5'-11" Jr. G) McClymonds
15. Shawn Whilt (5'-11" Sr. G) Santa Barbara
23. Alfred Williams (6'-3" Sr. G) Bakersfield
31. Adam Allegro (6'-5" Jr. F) Agoura
32. Johnny Wiley (6'-5" Sr. F) Bakersfield
33. Markel Abraham (6'-8" Sr. F) McClymonds
35. James Johnson (6'-6" Sr. F) Stockdale

Arizona Stars

Coach: Don Watson, Art Dye

3. Austin Ainge (6'-1" Sr. G) Highland
4. Andrew Pawling (6'-5" Sr. F) Chapparal
5. Ryan Walcott (6'-2" Sr. G) Shawdow Mountain
22. Scott Watson (6'-1" Sr. G) Gilbert
24. Mike Alvidrez (6'-4" Sr. G/F) Desert Vista
31. Jamal Scott (6'-5" Sr. F) Shawdow Mountain
33. Stephen Garnett (6'-3" Sr. G) Winslow
43. Ryan Hegarty (6'-10" Sr. F/C) Saguaro
42. Skyler Musser (6'-11" Sr. C) Maryvale
44. Jerry Smith (6'-4" Sr. G/F) Gilbert

Monsters of the Midway

Coach: Dave Bloomfield

5. Eliott Huckaby (6'-1" Sr. G) Pasadena
7. Marshall Duncan (6'-0" Jr. G) Poly, Pasadena
12. Andrew Bloomfiled (6'-3" Sr. G) LA Baptist
13. Kirk Herald (6'-6" Jr. F) Poly, Pasadena
25. Bobby Simms (6'-2" Sr. G) Marshall Fund.
32. Joshua Duncan (6'-5" Sr. F) Pasadena
33. John P. Eliott (6'-7" Jr. F) Loyola
42. Adam Drell (6'-7" Sr. F) Chatsworth
51. Douglas Thomas (6'-8" Jr. F) Pasadena

West Coast Academy

Coach: Jamie Davis

Lewie Helton (6'-2" Sr. G) Mayfiar
Tremayne Rankins (6'-4" Sr. G) Cabrillo
Chris Pacana (6'-1" Sr. PG) Ayala
Marcel Burke (6'-4" Sr. SG) Ayala
Jared Lloyd (6'-4" Sr. SG/SF) St. Anthony
Marcus Washington (6'-3" Jr. G) Carson
Cedric Thompkins (6'-6" Sr. F) Westchester
Josiah Johnson (6'-6" Sr. SG) Montclair Prep
Vince Cofield (6'-5" So. F) Long Beach Poly
Errol Jackson (6'-3" Jr. G) Carson
Warren Anderson (6'-2" So. G) Lakewood
Irran Anderson (5'-8" Fr. G) Lakewood

Teams--Friday, September 10	Time	Location
Monsters of the Midway v. West Coast Acad.	6:30 p.m.	Long Beach Millikan
805 Express v. Arizona Stars	10:15 p.m.	LBCC Aux Gym

Teams--Saturday, September 11	Time	Location
Arizona Stars v. Monsters of the Midway	10:15 a.m.	LBCC Main Gym
805 Express v. West Coast Academy	10:15 a.m.	LBCC Aux Gym
Arizona Stars v. West Coast Academy	3:15 p.m.	Long Beach Millikan HS
805 Express v. Monsters of the Midway	4:30 p.m.	LBCC Aux Gym

805, Arizona, Monsters, West Coast. Very evenly balanced, and we can't even begin to pick 'em, although we'd have to give a slight edge to Arizona and 805 because of their past successes. Top teams and top players, every one of these squads has someone of D-I caliber. Hey, we could go on and on about these guys, but why? Go see for yourself. Check out Austin Ainge, Skuyler Musser and Ryan Walcott for Arizona; 805 has super shooter Dominic Ingerson, Alfred Williams and Adam Allegro, as well as solid guard Shawn Whilt. Monsters has Adam Drell and lot's of CIF D-V guys; we're uncertain whether you'll see Douglas Thomas from Pasadena with this squad because he's also on ICAN. West Coast has lots of solid players, including great point guard play from Chris Pacana, and excellent shooting from Josia Johnson. Again, anyone's race. See you there.