pacshores finals

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SoCalHoops Tournament News

48th Annual Pacific Shores Tourney:
Redondo Wins It All--(Dec. 5, 1999)

Two different views of the tournament final, same result. We couldn't be there last night (a prior family commitment which couldn't be broken, at least not without the risk of serious marital complications, something even we aren't willing to risk to watch a game involving other people's kids. . . how callous can a spouse be?), but we managed to get some of the news and details, and the box score data from several of the local papers.

Our friend John Tawa, who handled the media and public relations for the tournament, sent us the following report last night on the Championship Game:

Here are my thoughts on Redondo's big win over Bishop.

Redondo 82, Bishop Montgomery 69:

The final of the 48th Annual Pacific Shores Tournament was a classic match-up of the skilled
size of Redondo versus the blazing speed of Bishop Montgomery. The Knights had had the better
of it during summer league play, beating Redondo three straight times, but this night was
different. Redondo came out red hot, making its first 6 shots to build a 12-2 lead. Playing
against a man-to-man defense, the Sea Hawks were able to get the ball to their spots, turn
and shoot over the much smaller Bishop team. On the Bishop end, the Knights' shots were not
falling, but Errick Craven, the lefty, still got the huge crowd excited with a windmill jam
over 6-10 Andrew Zahn.

The Sea Hawks played a superb first half, taking a 22-10 lead after one and maintaining the bulge 49-37 at the half. The first half belonged to Redondo's 6-6 junior point guard Dijon Thompson, who scored 17 points, including consecutive three-point plays when it appeared Bishop would make a run. His play had Stanford assistant coach Tony Fuller salivating. Redondo extended its lead to 63-42 at the end of the third quarter. Ryan Mollins had seven rebounds and a three-pointer in the stanza, while Andrew Zahn added seven points and four boards. Bishop could make nothing in the period, scoring only five points, including a trey late by Errick Craven.

The Cravens led Bishop back in the fourth quarter, creating offense with numerous steals. They are the quickest players I've seen in some time. Bishop pulled to within 11 points midway through the fourth and had a chance to cut it to eight, but Errick's three-pointer clanged off the rim and into Zahn's arms. Two Walter White free throws, a jumper by Mollins and monster jam by Zahn and it was garbage time.

Zahn was named the tournament MVP. He collected Zahn: 25 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks and 3 assists in the finals. Thompson , who finished with 21 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists and Mollins, who had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, also made the team. The Sea Hawks also got another courageous effort from White, playing with a sprained ankle and the flu. He had 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.

The rest of the stats for Redondo: Andrew Morris: 2 points, 2 steals; Adam Zahn: 2 points, 3 rebounds, Dylan Mathis: 0 points, 3 steals, 3 rebounds, 3 assists; Paul Meynan: 1 point; Brendan Behan: 1 point.

Stats for the Bishop side were unavailable but the Craven twins must have accounted for at least 50 of the Knights' points. They both were named to the all-tournament team.

The consolation game, which pitted Fairfax against Mayfair, was also fun to watch. Josh Childress, who did not make the all-tourney team, broke out in this one, scoring well over 20 points, but it wasn't enough, as the Lions won by seven. Jason Morrissette and Scottie Stern were the sparkplugs for Fairfax. Morrissette and Evan Burns made the all-tournament team for Fairfax. Edwin Draughan was recognized from Mayfair.

Mira Costa's I.V. Wiley, Morningside's Dwayne Trotter and a North Torrance kid whose name I missed also made it.

John Tawa
Easy Reader

And here's an article which appeared in today's Daily Breeze (we're not sure if it also appeared in the online version of the paper, but if it did, we couldn't find it there.

By Jeff Ruthenberg
Staff Writer

Size overpowered quickness in the Pacific Shores Tournament final as Redondo defeated Bishop Montgomery, 82-69, at Redondo for the Sea Hawks' first title in 24 years. Six-foot-10 Andrew Zahn led the way for the Sea Hawks (4-0) with 25 points and 10 rebounds Saturday night on his way to tournament MVP honors. Senior guard Ryan Mollins, who had 14 points and nine rebounds, was named to the all-tournament team along with teammate Dijon Thompson, who contributed 21 points and made all nine of his free throws. Despite a 27-point performance by junior guard Errick Craven, Bishop Montgomery (3-1) wasn't able to overcome Redondo's size with its quickness, as the Knights were outrebounded, 48-34.

Junior guard Derrick Craven added 19 points for the Knights. Both brothers were named to the all-tournament team. Although the Cravens combined for over half of Bishop Montgomery's offense, the Knights shot 31.1 percent and made 5 of 28 3-point attempts. Redondo shot 54.7 percent from the floor and made 22 of 29 shots from the foul line. "The twins are fast and we knew they would come out with quickness," said Zahn, who also blocked five shots. "We weren't expecting them to be that physical."

After the Sea Hawks fell behind, 2-1, on a dunk by Errick Craven, Redondo took the lead on a Thompson jump shot and never looked back. The Sea Hawks used a 16-4 run, capped by Mollins' 3-pointer, to build a 17-6 lead with 3:23 left in the first quarter. The teams played evenly in the second quarter as both scored 27 points. Fred Washington hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 49-37 at the half. But Montgomery went cold in the third quarter and didn't score until the 2:56 mark, after Redondo had built a 60-37 lead. The Knights turned to a full-court press in the final quarter and cut the lead to 72-61 on two free throws by Derrick Craven with 3:27 to go. Redondo countered with a full-court defense of its own and put the Knights away.

Redondo coach Jim Nielsen admitted he was worried when the Knights cut the lead to 11. "I thought that if they scored another basket, they might go ahead for the win,” he said. "To get this win was really special."

Fairfax 66, Mayfair 58:

Jason Morrissette had 15 points and 12 rebounds as Fairfax captured third place.

North 84, Leuzinger 82:

Paul Woo hit a key free throw with 39 seconds left in overtime to lift the Saxons in the consolation final. Justin Agsalud, an all-tournament pick, scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half and Ron Richards scored 23 to lead North (3-1). Cedric Poe scored 20 to lead Leuzinger (2-2).

The Daily Breeze and the Long Beach Press Telegram also had the box scores for the four games which were played yesterday :

Bishop Montgomery: 10 27 5 27--69
Redondo: 22 27 14 19--82

Bishop Montgomery (69)-- Derrick Craven 19, Brian Pruitt 10, DeVaughn Peace 8, Errick Craven 27, Washington 5. 3 point goals: D. Craven 2, E. Craven 2, Washington.

Redondo (82)-- Behan 1, Morris 2, Mollins 14, Thompson 21, White 16, Andrew Zahn 25, Adam Zahn 2, Meynen 1. 3 point goals: Mollins 2.

Fairfax:: 14 13 17 22--66
Mayfair 12 12 15 19--58

Fairfax (66)--Torres 5, Jones 5, Burns 7, Stern 12, Abdelsamad 8, Morrissette 13, Smith 10, Bosley 6.

Mayfair (58)--Josh Childress 22, Chris Childress 2, Bonds 12, Draughan 9, Washington 4, Pittman 4, Bragg 5.

North Torrance: 18 25 18 16 7--84
Leuzinger 20 18 16 23 5--82

North Torrance (84)-- Agsalud 20, Toy 4, Woo 10, Richards 23, Ito 12, Ngai 2, Parks 1, Brown 4, Sugano 2, Davis 6. 3 point goals: Agslaud, Woo, Ito 2.

Leuzinger (82)--Ortega 11, Reed 6, Smith 6, Naff 14, Givens 10, Shepard 6, Poe 20, Allahden 5, Dixon 3. 3point goals: Ortega, Naff, Givens, Dixon.

Washington: 13 9 19 18 --59
Banning: 21 18 20 16--74

Washington (59)-Parker 21, Asberry 11, Lowe 2, Clayton 9, Jones 6, Ward 10. 3-point goads: Parker 5, Asberry 3, Jones 2.

Banning (74--Mmeje 4, Ortiz 2, Sanchez 2, Tunu 7, Meigia 5, Aguirre 20, Jackson 21, Lara 10, Quinine 4, 3-point goals: Meija, Aguirre 4, Jackson 3, Lara 2.

And as an extra bonus, we also came across a column by the Breeze's Mike Waldner, who many in the South Bay area have been reading for years. It was a kind of retrospective look at the Pacific Shores Tournament, and even though it focused primarily on some of this year's top players, the article brought back memories of Pacific Shores Tourneys of the past:

Current Stars Hit The Shores

By Mike Waldner
Daily Breeze
Sunday, December 5, 1999

Is that Paul Westphal slashing to the basket?

Actually, it's a young man named Josh Childress doing the damage.

Sitting in the stands at Redondo High or Mira Costa High this week during the 48th annual Pacific Shores Basketball Tournament was like being in a time machine. Suddenly, it was 1967. There was Westphal, who would be an All-American at USC and an NBA All-Star with Phoenix, working the baseline for Aviation High once again. The ghosts of Pac Shores past were all over the place, from Gabe Arrillaga (Inglewood) in 1952 to Jim Milhorn (Long Beach Jordan) in 1958 to Jack Reilly (Culver City) in 1962 to Reggie Theus (Inglewood) in 1974 to Stais Boseman (Morningside) in 1992.

Suddenly the time machine has you back in 1999 watching a new set of young stars on the rise. Childress is the leader of the pack. He's a gifted 6-foot-7 junior from Mayfair High in Lakewood. Blink and you'll miss him go to the basket. Just like Westphal. Also like Westphal, he has the college coaches circling.

UCLA head coach Steve Lavin and his assistant, Jim Saia, beat a path to the tournament to see Childress. What they saw is a rangy player who reminded them of Reggie Miller or Jamaal Wilkes. He can shoot from the outside, has a quick step to the basket and is willing to pass to the open man. The coaches looked like kids in a candy store as they checked out the prospects.

USC assistant Silvey Dominguez and Stanford assistant Tony Fuller also were in the gym.

Redondo won the tournament Saturday night with a strong 82-69 win over Bishop Montgomery. Jim Nielsen's Redondo team is loaded, starting with Andrew Zahn, the 6-10 senior who has been on the recruiting radar screen since he was 14. Walter White, Zahn's 6-5 senior running mate, also is attracting interest. The Sea Hawks are so deep they were able to hold Childress in check. If there's a dropoff at Redondo next season it may not be noticeable. Dijon Thompson is a 6-6 junior point guard who is just beginning to get a feel for how good he can become. Then there's Zahn's younger brother Adam, a 6-7 sophomore and Paul Meynen, a 6-11 classmate. In the wings is White's brother, Wendall, an extremely promising 6-2 freshman (who is playing jv).

Fairfax brought Jason Morrissette, another blue chip prospect. The 6-5 forward with shooting-guard skills is exceptionally moody. That will not last long once he gets to Santa Clara, where Dick Davey runs a no-nonsense program. Evan Burns, a 6-8 Fairfax sophomore, quickly caught the attention of the recruiters.

Speaking of no-nonsense, that's precisely the approach Doug Mitchell takes at Bishop Montgomery. Not only do the Knights go about their business without complaining about calls, they do not even look at the officials.

Remember Paul Westphal's high-energy game at Loyola Marymount with Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble? Bishop Montgomery guards Derrick and Errick Craven play that roadrunner game. Excuse the expression, but the junior guards are double trouble. DeVaughn Peace makes it three relentless juniors for the Knights. Redondo's combination of size, depth, quickness and balance simply was too much for Bishop Montgomery's quickness. Zahn scored 25 points, Thompson 21, and White 16. Errick Craven led all scorers with 27 points, and Derrick had 19.

Zahn is an interesting story. He's been so good for so long. The minute he sags a little a buzz begins about how he's leveled off. That's what happened during the summer when, horror of horrors, he apparently was not in top shape for some summer camps. Zahn quickly proved during the Pac Shores that he remains the real thing. He has excellent feel for the game, soft hands, good vision. He takes advantage of his size by pounding inside, he blocks shots, he appears quicker and more committed on defense than in the past.

Westphal was busy Saturday coaching Seattle past the Clippers at Staples Center. He would have had just as much fun taking a walk down memory lane at the Pacific Shores Tournament.

See you next year at the 49th Annual Pacific Shores Tournament.