SoCalHoops Tournament News
SoCalHoops Tournament News
40th Annual Best In The West--Program Notes:
South Gate--(Dec. 27, 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
| 7:30 p.m. | West Gym | #3 Long Beach Poly v. South Gate | 9 |
| [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. |
South Gate HS (South Gate, CA) : Last season Coach Sal Serrano's South Gate team was seeded No. 1 in the LA City Section "Division" Championship playoffs (which is sort of like saying they were No. 17 in the City overall, but that's another story), but in the first game they were upset by No. 16 Division seed (actually the No. 32 team in the City) Banning, in a 58-56 overtime loss. And that upset occurred with South Gate having the phenomenal outside shooter and slashing scorer Ronald Johnson, who has since graduated. Without Johnson, there's no doubt Coach Serrano will have a tough time replacing his 26 ppg average. This year's team is almost entirely composed of small, quick guards, and in fact there's no one over 6'-3". There are 10 players standing 6'-0 and under. Richard Castillo (6'-3" Jr. F) and Matt Lemelin (6'-2" Sr. F) top out the roster as the two tallest players, so South Gate will have to depend on speed, quickness and excellent outside shooting against some of the teams they'll face at the Best in the West. Returning guards Jose Barrajas (6'-0" Sr. SF/SF) will try to help as will Cesar Espinoza (5'-11" Sr. G/F), Jorge Estrada (5'-211" Sr. G), Ramon Garcia (6'-0" Sr. G/F) Romero Moises (5'-9" Sr. G) and Javier Vega (5'-11" Sr. G). Besides Castillo, there are only two other juniors, Robert Sanchez (5'-11" Jr. G) and Richard Castillo, and one sophomore, Edwin Castro (5'-10" So. G). This is a team that will have to depend on pressing, attacking and running the court relentlessly if they're going to have much success here at the best in the West. Still, if the team is half as athletic as prior year's South Gate teams, they could surprise some people.
| 34 | Jose Barrajas | 6'-0" Sr. G/F |
| 50 | Richard Castillo | 6'-3" Jr. F |
| 23 | Edwin Castro | 5'-10" So. G |
| 25 | Cesar Espinoza | 5'-11" Sr. G |
| 14 | Jorge Estrada | 5'-11" Sr. G |
| 45 | Ramon Garcia | 6'-0" Sr. G/F |
| 55 | Matt Lemelin | 6'-2" Sr. F |
| 30 | Isidoro Perez | 5'-9" Jr. G |
| 15 | Moises romero | 5'-9" Sr. G |
| 42 | robert Sanchez | 5'-11" Jr. G |
| 11 | Javier Vega | 5'-11" S.r G |
| 22 | Marcus Wilson | 5'-11" Sr. G |
See you there.
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