wooden announce 1

This one is coming up on Friday, December 4, 1998 and will feature some great teams. It promises to be one of the top high school events of the season, and this year, a girls game has been added to the lineup featuring the Brea-Olinda Lady Cats v. the Chino Ayala Bulldogs. The boy's schedule includes San Diego County's Rancho Buena Vista vs. Los Alamitos at 6:00 p.m., Waltrip (Texas State Champions) v. Compton Dominguz at 7:30 p.m., and Glendora v. Mater Dei at 9:00 p.m. . The evening will also include a high school three-point shooting contest and a slam dunk challenge (thank goodness they lost that silly "celebrity" halftime game they had last year).

Tickets for the Friday games are $25.00, $15.00, $10.00 and $8.00. A portion of all ticket sales will go to benefit the John R. Wooden Scholarship Award established to support Southern California High School athletic programs and student athletics.

The High School Invitational is separate from the Wooden College Classic games which will be played Saturday, and separate admission will be charged. Those games will feature Kansas v. Pepperdine at 2:00 p.m. and UCLA v. Oklahoma State at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday December 5, 1998 at the Pond.

Here's what the official promo materials say about each of the games; we've also included links to our own High School Team Previews where we've done separate articles on the teams playing (which is all the boys' teams except Waltrip and San Diego RBV):

Brea Olinda Lady Cats	vs	Chino Ayala Bulldogs
Entering his fifth season at Brea-Olinda, Coach Jeff Sink (121-12) brings his six time Division II Cif State Champions to the John R. Wooden High School Invitational for the firs5t-ever girl' basketball game. The Lady Cats went 33-1 for the 1997-98 season. With six consecutive state titles, Brea-Olinda has set a new state record. Returning forward Chelsea Trotter was selected State Division II Player of the Year in 1997-98. Trotter averaged 17.0 points and 11.2 rebounds per contest and was also honored as Co-CIF Division II Player of the Year with returning teammate Lindsey Davidson. Daavidson averaged 14.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in 1997-98 and was a Division II All-State selection		Sixth year head coach Mil Sims took the Bulldogs to the CIF Southern Section semifinals after posting an overall record of 23-7. The Dawgs return starting juniors Candice Allen, Ligaya Dozier, Chantea Fleming and Mindy Haarlarmmert. All four statrted during their sophomore season and all have GPA's of 4.0 or better. All four juniors averaged double figures as sophomores with Dozier averaging 10.1 assists. Sims is a legendary coach in Southern California posting a 293-98 career record in 15 years at six high schools and a 109-33 record in five years at Ayala.
San Diego Rancho Buena Vista Long Horns	vs	Los Alamitos Griffins
CIF State Semifinalist Rancho Buena Vista posted a 27-3 record in the 1997-98 season and dominated the CIF San Diego Section over the past four years, capturing four consecutive Palomar League titles and two CIF San Diego Section crowns while accumulating an 101-21 overall record. Coach John O'Neill begins his 12th season for the Longhorns, with a career record of 196-121 (.618), returning three two-year starters with Aaron Abroms (22.2 ppg, All-State selection in his junior year); C.J. Fellars (16.0 ppg, first team all-academic with a 3.85 GPA) and Adrian Phillips (8.5 ppg and 2.6 steals per game).		The Griffins captured their second consecutive Sunset League title last season while compiling a 17-9 overall record. Coach Steve Brooks earned his 300th career win last season and now owns a record of 305-137 (.650) over 16 years. Los Alamitos features returning juniors Jeff Grgas at forward (6.4 ppg, 4.6 rebounds per game) and Ron Prettyman at guard (2.1 ppg, 1.2 rebounds) along with senior guard Ryan Keller (2.7 points, 1.0 rebounds). In 1998, Los Alamitos has won its ninth of the last 16 Sunset League titles. In the other seven, Los Alamitos finished as league runner-up.
Compton Dominguez Dons	vs	Waltrip Rams--Houston, Texas
The Dominguez High Dons were tagged as the nations No. 1 team in 1997 by USA TODAY, and the team has validated that status with six CIF-Southern Section titles in the past 10 years. Coached by Russell Otis who owns a career record of 281-57 (.831) in 12 seasons at Dominguez, the Dons have captured two state titles in three attempts. Returning to the team is 7'-0" sophomore Tyson Chander who was voted the top freshman in California and the nation last season. Joining Chandler will be two-year starter Keith Kincaid, named to the All-San Gabriel Valley League team.		Waltrip captured the Texas State 4A title last year after going 33-3 overall. Second year coach Fred Smith returns shooting guard Field Williams and pint guard Antonio Falu, who were both named to the All-Texas State team. Williams averaged 21 points, four assists and three rebounds per contest. Falu averaged 22 points, eitht assists and seven rebounds per game. Joining this dynamic duo on the court is junior transfer Jermaine Boyd, who was ranked in 1997-98 as one of the top junior point guard in Texas. With 24 points and seven assists per game, he was selected to first team All-District.
Mater Dei Monarchs	vs	Glendora Tartans
Gary McKnight enters his 17th season coaching the Monarchs after leading them to a 22-8 overall record and a post-season appearance in the Cif-Southern Section Division 1A Semifinals in 1997-98. Returning to the Mater Dei Starting lineup are seniors Derrick Mansell, Mike Bayer and Imran Sufi. Juniors Christian McGuigan, Steve Henderson, Geoff McKnight and J.J. Johnson will contribute greatly to this team's efforts in 1998-99. McKnight owns a career record of 475-42 (.919) within 16 years at Mater Dei.		Mater Dei's rivals, the Glendora Tartans captured the 1997-98 CIF-Southern Section Division IA title with an overall record of 31-2. Coach Mike LeDuc has accumulated a career coaching record of 433-99 (.937) over 18 years as a head coach. LeDuc's 11 year record at Glendora is 299-42 (.877). Returning to the Tartan starting line-up is high school All-American guard Casey Jacobsen, who averaged 32 points per game last season. Jacobsen also earned CIF Southern Section Division I Player of the Year honors.