SoCalHoops Tournament News
SoCalHoops Tournament News
40th Annual Best In The West--Program Notes:
Harvard-Westlake--(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
| 11:30 a.m. | East Gym | Pasadena v. Harvard Westlake | Game No. 2 |
| [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. |
Harvard-Westlake HS: (Studio City, CA): Harvard Westlake is coming off a good run at the Las Vegas Reebok Holiday Prep Classic, where they finished third in the Silver Cup Tournament, 3-1 in the tournament and they are now 7-2 overall on the season. Coach Greg Hilliard's team, which finished 15-13 overall, 7-5 in league last year, good enough for third in the tough Mission League, made it to the semifinals of CIF SS-Div. III-A playoffs last season. This year may be even tougher for H-W now that Division III-AA and IIIA have been combined, but if they keep playing the way they have in the early preseason, they will do just fine. The Wolverines will be looking to their guard play for results, and a huge part of the offense will mostly come from top recruit Russell Lakey (6'-0" Sr. PG/SG), who is being recruited by all the Ivy League as well as several West Coast schools like Loyola Marymount University and Santa Clara. Joining him in the backcourt will be Craig Weinstein (5'-10" So. SG/PG), a good passer and tough competitor, and John Karavas (5'-8" Sr. SG), a speedy perimeter defender and shooter. At the boards will be Eric Geffner (6'-5" Sr. F), a lanky and effective rebounder and inside scorer. Up front and on the wings look for Chris Hooks (6'-2" Sr. F), Bryan Coffey (6'-1" Jr. F), Kelechi Ogbunamiri (6'-3" Sr. F). Spencer Torgan (6'-3" Sr. C), a football player will also provide blocking and size in the middle. Others to watch are Austin Scott (5'-8" So. G), a good ballhandler; Jesse Gurman (5'-11" Sr. G) and Rob Krauss (6'-0" Sr. G) two seniors who train hard; Richard Nicholson (6'-0" Sr. F) a football receiver will add depth. Based on what we saw in Vegas, the Harvard Westlake team usually only goes about 6 maybe 7 players deep and the starters, Lakey, Weinstein, Karavas, Geffner and Hooks, will usualy play more than 50% of every game, with Lakey and Geffner providing most of the offensive push.
Here's the roster:
| 10 | Austin Scott | 5'-8" So. G |
| 11 | Russell Lakey | 6'-0" Sr. G |
| 12 | Craig Weinstein | 5'-11" So. G |
| 14 | John Karavas | 5'-8" Sr. G |
| 15 | Rob Krauss | 6'-0" Sr. G |
| 20 | Jesse Gurman | 5'-11" Sr. G |
| 21 | Eric Geffner | 6'-5" Sr. F |
| 22 | Chad Garson | 6'-4" Sr. F |
| 23 | Chris Hooks | 6'-2" Sr. F |
| 24 | Richard Nicholson | 6'-0" Sr. F |
| 25 | Brian Coffey | 6'-1" Jr. F |
| 30 | Kelechi Obbunamiri | 6'-3" Sr. F |
| 34 | Spencer Torgan | 6'-3" Sr. C |
See you there.
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