SoCalHoops High School News

Jason Day:  Reebok Compton Tip-Off Classic:
  Dominguez vs. Crossroads--(Dec. 2, 1998)

This was one game that we were really hoping to see, but by the time we got finished watching another game we were committed to seeing (Liberty League Buckley's romp over A.G.B.U. by a score of 66-33), it was really too late to make it to Compton.  Which was perfectly all right with us, from a reportorial point of view, because Jason Day (and presumably his sidekick photographer friend Larry Gray) were there to give us all the action.  You'll note at the end that Larry makes a reference to an article on the Lynwood vs. Compton game which followed the Dominguez v. Crossroads game, but by the time he got done posting this, it was after 1:00 a.m. on December 2, so he decided to leave that one until tomorrow (i.e., later today).   Hopefully we'll be able to get it to you shortly. . . as soon as Jason wakes up and writes it. And Larry develops the pics.   

For now, enjoy his report of the Compton Dominguez game:

Dominguez Hammers Crossroads

by Jason Day

Okay, so all of you that didn't make it over to Compton Community College for the second day of the second annual version of this shindig are dying to know who won the Dominguez / Crossroads game. Guess.

Opening tip-off

This one had all the elements for a competitive and entertaining game: SRO crowd (heavily weighted toward Dominguez -- it is in Compton you know); many, many, many, of the SoCal basketball elite (from Lavin to Burlison, from Dino to "Money", from Azzam to Watson, from, well you get the picture), and two teams that feature big time names. Tyson "The Franchise" Chandler, Felipe "The Monster" Williams, Kincaide and Brooks, Fox and Taylor. AND, it was the debut of Marcus "The Newest Don" Moore, fresh from the "transfer" controversy.

So what the hell happened? Simple.

Dominguez came out and rolled right over "X-Roads". Period.

Williams gave those of us who had come to see a real battle much hope on Crossroads' first possession. He soared in (as he is known to do) to just mash a put-back stuff that had the capacity crowd trying to catch their breath between the oohs and aahhs. They got plenty of time to do that as this quickly deteriorated into a romp.

Dominguez was only up by 13 at the half, but the handwriting was all over the wall. Crossroads' notoriously unreliable outside shooting was nowhere to be found, and efforts at going inside were repeatedly sent packing by the ever stingy Chandler, or were just flat out misfired at the hole. After a spurt that opened up a 20 pt. lead at the very beginning of the 2nd half, this game became about as exciting as watching Linda Tripp. Okay, maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but geez.

REEE-jected!! Tyson Chandler sends it back.

Look, I could go on and on (and probably would if I wasn't so damn sleepy) but there's no point. Dominguez beat em by 34 (76-42)....(I told you it was bad).

Now you want the numbers, right?

For the Don's: Kincaide had 16; and Larry Johnson did too. The rest of the scoring was spread up and down the bench. Oh, and Tyson had 6 pts. with 7 blocks. I didn't get Marcus Moore's stats...sorry bout dat.

For Crossroads: Williams had 9; Devrin Anderson had 7; Chad Gordon had 9; Isaiah Fox had 6; Misha Taylor had 4. Get the picture, single digit balanced scoring can be a problem.

Observations: If Dominguez is working on getting Tyson to be more productive on the offensive end, this game was a setback. They rarely went to him, just as they rarely did during summer play, and he's still developing the tools to get his own. Of course as a sophomore you've got to expect that, but I still think that some people put way to much pressure on this kid to just dominate opponents. He is simply not consistently there yet, but I for one feel he certainly will be. One day.

Backup PG...Keilon Fortune goes to work.

Marcus Moore seems to love playing at Dominguez. He's a big time talent that's now the floor leader of a big time team. Watch him closely this season cause I think he'll take his game to the next level.

Dominguez' bench, led by Cedric Thompkins, Darius Sanders, Keilon Fortune and many many more, is probably the strongest in SoCal. Steve Moore, who will see much time off the pine this year is nursing a broken bone in his arm, but "...cast comes off Thursday...", so expect him to join the crew very soon. Wow.

Over at Crossroads: This had to be a disappointment, but they've got to know that they have a very talented team. A team that should make a lot of noise in Div IV this year. When they meet Verbum Dei, be there, it'll be a great one. In the mean time they have simply got to develop a more reliable perimeter game. I also agree with several observers of tonight's game who said that the ball has to go into Fox far more often than it did in this one. It is early in the season and Coach Roper has shown that he can build a winner.   Just ask "First Alum" Baron Davis who was courtside agonizing with his Alma Mater.

Baron Davis (center) takes in the action. That's our pal Walter Carpenter, Pres. of Jus Fundamental Sportswear (Spot-up Hoopgear) in the lower rt. corner.

And now to those of you who left before the game between Lynwood and Compton. I have just three words for you....NANNER, NANNER, NANNER.

This was THE ball game, and you missed it. Check our article to get da 411, it was a great one.

We did photos of this game, and the Lynwood / Compton contest and will have the photo galleries up tomorrow. In the meantime...

Later

Jason Day 

Ed. Note:  There are more photos of the event taken by Larry Gray, which can be found at the USA Website. Click on the link to find them.

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