ayala program notes

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SoCalHoops Tournament News

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40th Annual Best In The West--Program Notes:
Ayala (Chino Hills)--(Dec. 26, 1999)

What:      40th Annual Best in the West Invitational
Where:   Long Beach State & Lakewood High School
When:    December 27, 28, 29 & 30, 1999
Who:      32 of the top boys' teams in the West

2:40 p.m.

East Gym

Ayala v. Verbum Dei

Game No. 14

[Note: These are the program notes we wrote for the Official Best in the West Program. We know for a fact that many of the team profiles were edited to save space in the program. So, we thought we'd at least make some use of the original material by posting it up here. Additionally, with some of these teams, we've already done previews here at SoCalHoops, and where they exist, we'll link to them.

Ayala HS (Chino Hills, CA): Coach Tom Gregory's Bulldogs finished 20-9 overall last season, and they made it to the Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs, losing only to Long Beach Jordan in the quarterfinals. While they lost some of their starters, they continue to surprise a lot of teams in the early preseason with their tough and tenacious defense and ability to score. This year Ayala is led by Chris Pacana (6'-1" Sr. SG/SG/SF), who is playing down at the small forward spot instead of point guard. Marcel Burke (6'-5" Sr. SG/SF) is still out on the wing and in the paint as is D.J. Lucas (6'-5" Sr. F/C), while Chase Jones (6'-0" Sr. G), Bobby Simms (6'-2" Sr. SG/SF), Mark McCoy (6'-1" Sr. SG/PG) and Dantaa Donald (5'-9" Jr. G) all work the backcourt, freeing up Chris, Marcel and others to score. Up front, Ayala may have lost Jack May to Duquesne University, but they still have Nick Vavakin (6'-7" Sr. C) and Malik Jones (6'-6" Jr. F/C) anchoring the post, and some excellent forwards in Mike Sterling (6'-2" Sr. F), Willie Cradoc (6'-3" Sr. F), Ekene Agwuenu (6'-3" Sr. F), and Kenn Quinn (6'-1" Jr. F). Ayala recently grabbed a few headlines by beating up on LA Cleveland, Sacramento Oakridge, and Long Beach Poly, before losing to Clovis West in the Championship of the Buchanan-Clovis West "Battle of the Central Valley" a 28 team tournament three weeks ago.

4	Dante Donald	5'-9" Jr. PG/SG
30	Chasen Jones	5'-11" Sr. PG/SG
12	Mark McCoy	6'-1" Sr. G
00	Chris Pacana	6'-0" Sr. PG/SG
31	Ken Quinn	6'-2" Jr. SG/SF
32	Bobby Sims	6'-2" Sr. SG
24	Mike Sterling	6'-3" Sr. SF/SG
20	Willey Cradoc	6'-3" Sr. SG/SF
11	Ekene Agwuenu	6'-3" Sr. SF
22	Marcel Burke	6'-5" Sr. PG/SF
25	DJ Lucas	6'-5" Sr. F
23	Malik Jones	6'-05" Jr. F
33	Nick Vavakin	6'-7" Sr. SF/PF

Ayala's first game is scheduled as follows:

2:40 p.m.

East Gym

Ayala v. Verbum Dei

Game No. 14

See you there.