SoCalHoops High School News

Jason Day: More Reebok Vegas
Prep Classic: Westchester--(Dec. 28, 1998)

Our friend and correspondent Jason Day has been working with Larry Gray, who took some great pictures at the Reebok Classic.  These are mostly of Westchester and their opponents, and given the quality of the equipment that Larry was using, they are a lot sharper and clearer than anything we've been ab le to shoot with our little Sony Mavica digital camera.  We hope you enjoy them.  

THE REEBOK CLASSIC IN PICTURES--Westchester

by Jason Day

photos by Larry Gray

Westchester is the defending California Div. 1 champion. That honor was bestowed on them at the end of last season.  Early in that season, that team competed in that year's Reebok Classic. And while they finished 5th or 6th, their performance was a big disappointment to their fans, their staff, and themselves. That year proved that over the course of a season, a team can come together, take advantage of vast talent, and suceed at the big dance.

Lou Wright with the "sweet" form

This year, Westchester will probably prove that losing huge amounts of leadership (and
talent) makes it difficult for any team to play "championship" ball. The Comets had already
stumbled back home, losing to Compton and being crushed by Crenshaw. Now they were in Vegas with potential matchups against the Dominguez', Mt. Zions, and Oak Hills of the
world.

Chad Bell v. Mt. View's Dennis Lattimore		Chad Bell goes up against Nate Bloom
Lou Wright goes up and lays it in.		Kevin Brown looks for the pass

But before they could tangle with the big boys, they had to dispose of the pretenders to
the throne that a "powerhouse" gets served to them in tournaments like this. And naturally
all the "pretenders" are gunnin for the mighty Westchester. Stratford (Houston TX) fell
56-53. Then came Mountan View (Mesa, AZ) a serious contender in their own right, and
not your normal "pushover". In fact, Mountain View beat Westchester by 10 points in the
4th place game at last year's Reebok [and went on to win the Arizona State Championship itself] Westchester dropped them 43-42 in a real good game with a real exciting finish.

Then came Horizon (Thornton, CO) the Colorado defending State 5A (1A equivalent) champs. Despite 20 pts. from Lou Wright (6'-6" Jr. F) who had 4 threes, the Comets fell 65-62.

They then went on to play Killeen (Killeen TX) a real tough team. (We'll have a photo feature that includes them, and some observations later).

The Comets were in a mood to celebrate after winning the nail biter against Mountain View.

Later

Jason Day

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