SoCalHoops High School Report

High School Team Preview:
Mayfair High School--(Oct. 14, 1998)

Dave Breig is the head coach at Lakewood Mayfair High School, and he's another young, excited and energetic guy. Dave graduated from Mayfair in 1984, attended Cerritos College where he played for two years, then enrolled as a scholarship player at Seattle Pacific, where he got his degree and then participated for one year of post-graduate work in the coaching program as a graduate assistant.  The next year he went to work for Steve Brooks at Los Alamitos coaching the sophomore team.   Dave then got the job as an assistant at Mayfair for a year, but was lured away by the head coaching job at Irvine Valley where he had the varsity job for 2 years. Finally, three years ago, he got the call to be the head coach at his alma mater and returned to Mayfair..

As we said, Dave is excited about his team's makeup this year, and he's excited about the school.  Mayfair, which is located in Lakewood, has just completed a new gym facility.  They'll also be hosting some really good teams this season, including Bishop Montgomery on January 4 which should feature a battle of the top sophs as Childress and Draughan battle the Craven brothers. Dave is also excited about the team's December tournament plans, and their scheduled league game against Artesia which will be played as a part of the 1999 Adidas/Double Pump MLK Jr., Hoops Festival on January 16, 1999. 

Dave has good reason to be excited this season, since he's got a great nucleus of fine young players.  Mayfair is a sort of medium-sized enrollment school which plays in the Suburban League of Southern Section CIF against teams like Artesia, Bellflower, Glenn, La Mirada, and Norwalk. Last year the team finished 19-8, second in the league, and went to Division III-AA CIF Southern Section playoffs, where they played Bolsa Grande in the first round, losing 68-61. Dave knows that this year the team is young, but he expects to go a bit farther with this talented group. Here's the roster:

Edwin Draughan (6'-5" So. PG)
Jesus Miranda (6'-2" Sr. SG)
Josh Childress (6'-6" So. SG/SF)
Jeff Bonds (6'-5" Jr. SF/PF)
Andre Walters (6'-4' Sr. C)
Matt McCraw (5'-10" Fr. PG/SG)
James Washington, Jr. (6'-3" Jr. SF/PF)
Brandon Morgan (6'-7" Sr. C)
Lee Emanual (5'-9" Sr. PG)
Chris Pittman (6'-3" Jr. SG/SF)
Ty Bapp (6'-1" Sr. SG)
DeAndre Williams (6'-3" So. SG/SF)

Edwin Draughan normally plays the 3 or 4 on club or all-star teams, but on this team he's a point. Draughan is a great shooter,  with excellent court vision, and the size to be able to see over defenders to get the ball inside or out across to the wing on a skip pass. He has great shooting touch, can penetrate at will. He's had some excellent coaching and has been at the game since he was very young, playing with club teams, including Southern California All-Stars. He was an All-League selection as a freshman and by the time he's a junior he'll have some of the major colleges drooling over him.  Joining Draughan in the backcourt will be Jesus Miranda, also an All-League selection last year and a three-year returning varsity letterman. He's one of the best defenders on the team, has good speed and is a great offensive player as well, sort of a spot-up type of shooter on the wings, and very good on the break and in the open court.  Jesus will probably go the JC route, and he's looking at attending  LBCC next year. 

Dave has got more than a few kids backing up these two guys, and we'd expect to see Matt McCraw, a young but tough freshman getting some time at the 1 or 2 spots. Matt has an excellent shot out beyond the arc, plays hard all the time, and we'd expect to see him first off the bench for the backcourt. Lee Emmanual may also see some time, and he's a terrific defensive player with great speed, and Dave described him as a "mosquito, he just bothers and bugs the other team to death. He's just all-out all the time, and plays intense defense, and can stop guys much bigger than he is."   Also at the shooting guard spot, expect Ty Bapp, a 3 point specialist to vie for time  this season.

In the frontcourt, we'd look for Josh Childress at the 3, Jeff Bonds at the 4, and Andre Walters at the 5, probably in that order, as the starters.   Josh is a great, but streaky shooter who has major Division I potential. Last year he had a 31 point game, and averaged 14.5 over the course of the season. He was an All-League selection as a freshman, and has impressed a lot of people, including a lot of college coaches, over the summer. Josh is a bit thin and could stand to hit the weights, but all things considered, he's getting stronger and developing some good post moves. He's got very long arms and can dunk on just about anyone. Dave will be working with him on his perimeter skills because ultimately, he will project out as a wing player.    Bonds will  be playing the 4, but right about now he's really more of a 3 type of player, as he's about 185, which is just a bit light for the post.  Jeff , who was also All-League last year as a sophomore, has a great handle, is very quick, and can jump and run the court. In fact he's very deceptive, because while he looks like a 3, he's down in the blocks with the post moves, but then can step out and either hit the perimeter shot out to 15' or beat his man off the dribble with a very quick first step.    Completing the frontcourt is Andre, who is a big strong guy, possibly the strongest guy in the Suburban League for his size. He's lifting about 250 lbs right now, and he's also one of the hardest working players around.  A tenacious rebounder, Dave describes him as a "guy who would run through a wall, that's how hard-working he is." 

Off the bench, we'd look for Brandon Morgan, a big strong inside player to relieve Andre at the center position. Brandon is a late-bloomer, with tremendous upside potential.  Apparently his father is about 6'-7" or 6'-8" too, and Brandon is expected to get even bigger in the next few years. We'd look for Brandon to go the JC route, get some experience, and then be a D-I prospect after two years.  Off the bench at the wing/forward position, look for Chris Pittman, a good strong athletic player who can run the floor and has great leaping ability, and also look for James Washington, Jr., another strong guy, who is a 2 year letterman, and one of the smartest kids on the floor, both basketball-wise and academically, and we're told he's got about a 3.9 GPA.  James is more of an inside-outside guy, very hardworking and tenacious.  DeAndre Williams will also see some time at the 2/3 spot, and he's more of a slashing type of guard, a scorer who can go to the basket and finish; he's got a lot of potential which he'll hopefully develop this season.

Mayfair will also be appearing in some great tournament action in December this year.  First up will be the Buena Park Tournament from December 1-5, 1998, which will feature 16 teams, mostly other Division III-AA teams, including Magnolia, Buena Park and others. We'll try to get the details on this one. Then Mayfair will be at the "Los Alamitos Nike Main Event" Tournament from December 15-19 at Los Alamitos. This is a first year event, and will be a round-robin tournament this first year, according to Steve Brooks, Los Al's coach.  Teams coming will be Mayfair, Los Al, Villa Park, Pacifica, Long Beach Wilson, Long Beach Cabrillo, Cypress, and La Habra.  Then, on December 26-31, Mayfair will be at the Walter Wong Invitational tournament on Oahu at Chaminade, Hawaii.  We're not sure who's coming, but this is the same tournament that was attended last year by Sonora and West Hills Chaminade. Should be fun, and maybe we'll even be able to get a few reports from the islands during the tournament.

In the adidas MLKevent on January 16, they will be the underdog in their league contest against  perennial favorite and possible State Champion Artesia, and they also know that they'll have a tough time containing Jason Kapono, Jack Martinez, Aaron Hamilton, Andre Hazel, or Apolinar Fernandez. But Mayfair also knows that all things are possible, that on any given day, in any given game, either team can win. We'll be watching.

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