SoCalHoops High School News

High School Team Preview:
Bolsa Grande HS--(Nov. 26, 1999)

This team preview is admittedly short in length, and it's also short on information on some of the players listed on the roster.  We have not spoken with Michael Anderson, the fourth year head coach of the Matadors, but as we've said many times before, we simply don't have the resources to physically speak with every single coach of every team in the Southern Section prior to the start of the season in order to get these previews out before play starts.  There are more than 500 schools in the Southern Section alone, and we just can't talk to everyone.  We'll continue to do previews and issue updates on teams during the season, but for now this will have to do. And  thankfully, we can rely a bit on the traditional media, such as the LA Times and the Orange County Register.  This preview is based in large part upon information published in the Orange County Register on November 25, 1999 in a preview of the Orange League written by Curtis Zupke,  on information contained in the Times as compiled by Paul McLeod and Peter Yoon, and other staff writers, and upon information we've accumulated throughout the summer and last season. 

Bolsa Grande High School is located in Garden Grove, at 9401 Westminster Blvd. The school is a four year, coed school, part of the Garden Grove Unified School District, and it has an enrollment of 1550, which places it in Division II-A for purposes of the Southern Section playoffs.  Last year, the team finished third in the Garden Grove League, and made it to the playoffs, where they promptly lost to Temple city 75-64 in the first round of D-II-A. The Matadors are coached by Michael Anderson, who is going into his fourth year at the helm, and overall he's got a 46-36 record. Last year, the team finished with a record overall of 15-12  according to the LA Times, (15-11 according to the Register), and 8-4 in league, which, as noted above, was good enough for third place. 

The Matadors compete against Pacifica, Los Amigos, Santiago, Rancho Alamitos, La Quinta, and Garden Grove in the Garden Grove League.  Based on what we've seen and read about them, they should do very well this year, and may even fulfill the expectations of the Register sportswriters who have picked them to finish first in the league.  Based on what's been published in the Register and Times' previews of the team, here's what the roster will look like this year;

According to the LA Times, Coach Michael Anderson is high on his team's chances, predicting the Matadors will win the league title. "We are capable of knocking down threes, we'll pressure and trap all game, and rely on our team speed to force the tempo of the game," he told the Times. Two starters return: swingman Jon James, a 6-4 senior who averaged 20.9 points and 11.9 rebounds, and guard Kevin Pham, a 6-1 senior who averaged 8.9 points. Senior Willie Montgomery, who averaged 22 points at Rancho Alamitos last year before transferring, sophomore Omar Amaral, formerly of Santa Ana Valley, and Dan Engel, who left Pacifica, are transfers expected to make big contributions, and we also don't want to overlook Deric Issacs, who can stroke the ball from outside; Issacs transferred from Venice; he didn't play last year due to an ilness, but did make the summer camp and tournament circuit playing for several teams. The Orange County Register has picked Bolsa Grande to finish first in the league this season, and sportswriter Curtis Zupke also had this to say about the season outlook for the team in his preview article published in the Register on November 25: 

"With James and Montgomery, the Matadors should score a lot of points. Anderson says Bolsa Grande is a top 10county team on paper and wants his players to respond to a new challege of being the favorite."

Bolsa Grande will be hosting it's own tournament starting this next week, and then they'll be at the Edison Tournament from Dec 14-18, and at the Katella Tournament from the 27-31.  Here's a look at the full schedule for the year, based on the CIF 1999-2000 Master Schedule and Media Guide:

 
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