SoCalHoops High School News

Artesia Wins Cerritos-Gahr
Tournament Final--(Dec. 6, 1998)

Big surprise.  Guess who won?  No it wasn't Long Beach Poly.  Jason Kapono, and Jack Martinez each scored 18 points as Poly fell, 63-53, and after trialing 15-8 at the end of the first quarter they manage to close the gap to a single point deficit, 26-27 at the half, largely due to great shooting, solid defense and excellent rebounding by Shea Anderson, Joe Travis, and Keyon Cooley.   In the first half, Poly guard Tim Thomas scored 9 points and Rahman Shotwell who doubles at point and shooting guard both with and for Wesley Stokes, managed 7 points.   Stokes was actually the best shooter for Poly, and he had 15 points including three three-pointers.  Artesia came back to life in the second half, and three minutes into the third, Artesia had again opened up a 10 point lead  helped by Martinez' 8 points.

According to the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Wayne Merino, the head coach of Artesia was not only happy with the result, he was happy with the way the team responded to strong pressure from Poly, the kind they're likely to see during league play from a couple of teams, and certain during the playoffs. "It's good to play games like this early in the season to see exactly what we need to work on," Merino told the P-T.  "I am happy to come out of the tournament as champions, but there are still some areas where we really need to improve.  Poly is a very good team and it's always good to play a game like this early in the season.

Jason Kapono was selected as the tournament MVP.  While the PT noted that he was "held to 6 of 13" from the field, that actually doesn't sound like bad shooting, especially with the kind of shooting we've been seeing from many high school, and some college teams lately.  Wesley Stokes and Shea Anderson were also named to the All-Tournament team, as was Artesia's Apolinar Fernandez.

Third Place Game:

Bellflower 85, Gahr 65-- Marcus Harvey scored a game-high 27 points and Taku Muradzikwa had 15 of his own as the Buccaneers (3-1) captured third place with a victory over the Gladiators (2-2) at Cerritos. 

Fifth Place Game:

Millikan 47, Pioneer 43--The Rams (2-2) captured fifth place with a win over the Titans (1-3) behind Sam Fernley and C.J. Hodges, who scored 12 and 11 points respectively at Cerritos.

Gardena 50, Cerritos 43--Anthony Alexander scored to lead the Dons (1-3) who fell in the seventh place game to the Mohicans (2-2) at Cerritos.

Consolation Championship:

Long Beach Cabrillo 64, St. John Bosco 62--Junior guard Alex Sansberry sank two free throws with one second left to help the Jaguars (2-2) capture the
consolation championship with a win over the Braves (3-1) at Gahr High. Sansberry finished with 21 points while junior forward Tremayne Rankins led Cabrillo with 26 points. The Jaguars won their first ever varsity game on Friday night with a win over Norwalk.

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