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SoCalHoops High School News

Fullcourt Press High School
Rankings For the Week--(Dec. 7, 1999)

Each week, starting yesterday, Dinos Trigonis at Fullcourt Press will do a weekly ranking of high school teams. He had a preseason list of teams, but yesterday, December 6, marked the first of the weekly updates and revisions to the rankings. You can access their rankings at this link, and there's also a narrative for each team. The rankings take the top 25, and then the next grouping of schools "on the bubble," listed alphabetically. And because these rankings don't appear to be archived at all, Dinos has told us he's got no problem with us doing that here. Below are the rankings from December 6, 1999:

Fullcourt Press Top 25 Teams
as of 12/6/99 (Games through 12/4 only)

1. Artesia (Lakewood) 0-0 Coach Wayne Merino
Ranked last week: 1
Pioneers have not played yet and open season at Hanford CA tournament. (December 9-11).

2. Clovis West (Fresno) 4-0 Coach Vance Walberg
Ranked last week: 5
I warned visitors to this site that this squad is dangerous and they proved by capturing the title of the
BCW Battle of Central Cal Tourney in Fresno. 6'2" junior lead guard Chris Hernandez had 32 points
(including 9 in the OT period) in a semi-final upset of #3 Dominguez (86-79) and defeated upstart #6
Ayala (Chino Hills) in the Final, needing OT again (68-66) as Hernandez pumped in 25 points (including
12/12 from the free throw line). Next: at Bakersfield Holiday Invitational (December 15-18).

3. Dominguez (Compton) 3-1 Coach Russell Otis
Ranked last week: 2
Dons blew a 15 point 4th quarter lead and were upset in the semi-finals of the BCW "Battle of Central
Cal" Tourney by #2 Clovis West (86-79 OT). Rebounded from that loss to crush Bakersfield (91-49) for
3rd Place as Tyson Chandler (19 points) and 6'6" senior Sherman Gay (18 points) combined for 37
points. Next: at Nike Iolani Tourney at Honolulu HI (December 16-22).

4. Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 1-0 Coach Gary McKnight
Ranked last week: 3
Defeated #20 Santa Barbara (70-61) at the Glendora Triple Crown Classic as 6'11" junior Jamal
Sampson scored 18 points. Next: at the Ocean View Tourney of Champions at Huntington Beach CA
(December 6-11).

5. Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) 4-0 Coach Jim Nielsen
Ranked last week: 8
Seahawks opened season in impressive fashion by winning the Pacific Shores Tourney - defeating #16
Mayfair (semi-finals) and #9 Bishop Montgomery (finals) in the process. Andrew Zahn (25 points vs.
Bishop Montgomery) was named tourney MVP and 6'6" junior lead guard Dijion Thompson impressed
coaches and scouts with his playmaking skills (scoring 19 points in the semis and 21 points in the
finals). The defense of all-tourney selection 6'5" senior Ryan Mollins was instrumental in the semi-final
win over Mayfair, helping hold top junior Josh Childress to just 12 points. Next: at Nike Oregon
Holiday Invitational at Beaverton OR (December 18-22).

6. Ayala (Chino Hills) 5-1 Coach Tom Gregory
Ranked last week: 15
Very well-coached squad showed it can play with the region's elite this year by beating #23 The
Bishop's School at the Reebok Tip-Off Classic and reaching the championship game of the BCW Battle
of Central Cal Tourney - losing by just 2 points in OT to #2 Clovis West (68-66). Seniors 6'2" Chris
Pacana and 6'5" Marcel Burke have been rock solid for well-balanced Bulldog squad which beat #21
Bakersfield in semi-finals.

7. Crenshaw (Los Angeles) 0-0 Coach Willie West
Ranked last week: 10
Cougars eager to start season at home on December 7th vs. Crossroads.

8. Poly (Long Beach) 3-1 Coach Ron Palmer
Ranked last week: 9
Missouri signee Wesley Stokes scored 23 points to lead Jackrabbitts past #15 Washington Union
(87-76) in 5th Place Game at the BCW Battle of Central Cal Tourney. Only loss was a 56-53 quarterfinal
defeat to #6 Ayala. Next: at Las Vegas Holiday Classic (December 18-22) at Las Vegas.

9. Bishop Montgomery 3-1 Coach Doug Mitchell
Ranked last week: 14
6'2" juniors Errick and Derrick Craven carried Knights to Pacific Shores Tourney Finals - losing to #5
Redondo Union in championship game. Derrick had 20 points in semi-final win over #10 Fairfax while
Errick pumped in 27 points versus Redondo Union. Next: at La Canada Tourney (December 15-19)

18. University of San Diego (San Diego) 0-0 Coach Chris Grazier
Ranked last week: 19
Did not play this week. Will open season at the Father Berry Holiday Classic (December 9-11 at Jesuit
HS in Carmichael CA).

19. Pacific (San Bernardino) 1-0 Coach Scott Smith
Ranked last week: 22
Pacific beat Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) (96-69) in season opener as Pepperdine signee William
Kimble had 34 points and 5'9" senior point guard Chris Smith set a school record with 24 assists. Smith
just recently scored 880 on the SAT and (according to his HS coach) is on schedule to satisfy his core
class requirements as well. Next: at Murrieta Valley (Murrieta) (December 7).

20. Santa Barbara 3-1 Jeff Lavender
Ranked last week: 24
Played in the Santa Barbara County Tourney - defeating Cabrillo (48-45), Lompoc (81-32) and St.
Joseph's (Santa Maria) (79-33). Lost to #4 Mater Dei (70-61) at the Glendora Triple Crown Classic as
Brent Williams (18) and Dommanic Ingerson (17) combined for 35 points.

21. Bakersfield 3-2 Coach Mark Hutson
Ranked last week: Not ranked
Alfred Williams' 33 points helped Bakersfield shock #15 Washington Union (#4 at the time) in the
quarterfinals of the BCW Battle of Central Cal Tourney. Two losses came at the hands of #6 Ayala
(semi-finals) and #3 Dominguez (3rd Place Game).

22. Fontana 4-1 Coach John McNally
Ranked last week: Not ranked
Opened season with 78-47 blowout of Alta Loma. Only loss to date was to J.W. North in the semi-final
of the J.W. North Tourney.

23. The Bishop's School (La Jolla) 0-1 Coach Fentriss Winn
Ranked last week: 20
Opened season with loss to #6 Ayala at Reebok Tip-Off Classic. Hoping to get a full strength soon
with expected arrival of 5 player still playing football.

24. Horizon (Christian) 1-0 Coach Zack Jones
Coach Zack Jones' 2-3 zone gave Brea-Olinda problems in 74-46 win at the Westchester Comet Pride
Classic at Los Angeles Southwest College. 6'8" junior Ronald Coleman had 12 boards.

25. Serra 2-0 Coach Dwan Hurt
Ranked last week: Not ranked
San Diego State signee Aerick Sanders has led a undersized Serra squad to 2 wins this past week
including a 51-48 win over previously ranked Westchester at the Westchester Comet Pride Classic at
Los Angeles Southwest College. Next: at Ocean View Tournament of Champions (December 6-11 at
Huntington Beach CA).

Teams on the Top 25 Bubble
(by alphabetical order)

* Buckley (Sherman Oaks) 2-0 Coach Dan Haasch
Defeated Glendale Adventist (118-44) as 6'3" junior Colin Ward-Henniger had 33 points and 6'0"
sophomore David Gale recorded a triple double (10 points/10 rebounds/10 assists).

* Burroughs (Ridgecrest) 4-0 Coach Robert Campbell
6'10" junior Rory O'Neil scored 26 points as Burroughs beat Oxnard (65-61 OT) in final of Saugus
Tourney.

* Claremont 3-1 Coach Mike Bateman
Only loss was to Los Alamitos (55-52) in Finals of Bolsa Grande Tourney.

* Crossroads (Santa Monica) 2-2 Coach Daryl Roper
The Roadrunners struggled at the BCW Battle of Central Cal in Fresno dropping two games.

* Glendora 1-0 Coach Mike LeDuc
Glendora beat Orange in the Glendora Triple Crown Classic as 6'3" senior Graham Miller scored 19
points.

* Inglewood 2-2 Coach Pat Roy
The Sentinels' youth showed this past week in Fresno at the BCW Battle of Central Cal,

* Los Alamitos 4-0 Coach Richard Smith
Defeated Claremont (55-52) to win Bolsa Grande Tourney.

* Marshall (Pasadena) 3-2 Coach Kyle Douglas
Gave #12 Simi Valley all it could handle in Finals of the Simi Valley Tourney (77-71 OT) as 6'5" senior
DeVarion Mackey scored 35 points (including 9 three-pointers).

* Moorpark 3-0 Coach Tim Bednar
6'1" senior Todd Tomlinson had 20 points and 9 assists to lead Moorpark to championship of the
Nordhoff Tourney and earn MVP honors.

* North Hollywood 3-1 Coach Rob Bloom
Captured third place in Simi Valley Tourney as 6'5" junior Kenny Hauser scored 23 points in win over
Monroe (Van Nuys). Only loss is to #12 Simi Valley.

* J.W. North (Riverside) 3-1 Coach Mike Bartee
Beat Compton 74-49 at Reebok Tip-Off Classic and reached Finals of the J.W. North Tourney (losing to
Rialto).

* Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 1-0 Coach Rob DiMuro
6'4" junior Cody Pearson pumped in 27 points in 73-69 double OT win over Bell-Jeff (Burbank).

* Price (Los Angeles) 0-0 Coach Mike Lynch Sr.
One of the top small school powers will be a force this season.

* Rialto 4-0 Coach Scott Perong
Champions of J.W. North Tourney.

* Santa Margarita 3-1 Coach Jerry DeBusk
Came in third place at Loara Tournament - beating Esperanza 72-50 as 6'1" junior R.J. Socci had 21
points.

* Servite (Anaheim) 3-1 Coach Brian Kenney
Lost in finals of the Loara Tourney to Troy (56-40).

* Troy (Fullerton) 4-0 Coach T..J. Hardeman
Won Loara Tourney - beating Santa Margarita and Servite in process.

* Villa Park 1-0 Coach Kevin Reynolds
Beat Sonora (La Habra) in season opener.

* Westchester 0-1 Coach Ed Azzam
Lost to #25 Serra 51-48 at Comet Pride Classic.