DI312.htm

SoCal High School & Prep Report

CIF State Playoffs: Southern Region
Division I Semifinal Previews--(March 12, 1998)

Game 1: Glendora (30-1) v. Lakewood Artesia (31-1)
Thursday 3/12 at Long Beach City College, 7:30 p.m.

Game 2: Clovis West (31-2) vs. Westchester (27-3)
Thursday 3/12 at Loyola Marymount University, 7:30 p.m.

Division I Semifinal Previews

Game 1:
Who: Glendora (30-1) vs. Lakewood Artesia (31-1)
Where: Long Beach City College, 7:30 p.m.

This game features two of the most evenly matched teams in any division. Artesia is two games away from playing in the CIF State Division I championship game. So is Glendora. Either team can advance to the CIF Southern California Regional final by winning tonight. If Artesia does, it will be the first time since 1993. Glendora has not made the trip in more than a decade. Artesia was the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA Champion, beating Long Beach Poly, which lost in the first round of State Playoff action to Westchester. Artesia has won 31 of 32 games with a roster that includes two freshmen, a sophomore and two juniors among its top nine. But they also feature seniors Jamal O'Quinn, James Murdock and Willie Alford. And they also have Jason Kapono (6'-8" Jr. C) one of the best in SoCal and perhaps the entire West Coast, who is currently averaging 22 ppg. The No. 2 scorer behind Kapono is 6'-7" freshman Jack Martinez who is averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds per game. 6'-9" freshman Apolinar Fernandez and 6'-7" senior Jamal O'Quinn each average in double figures.

CIF Southern Section Division I-A champion Glendora, seeded No. 3 in the region in the State Tournament, is led by Casey Jacobsen (6'-6" Jr. SG/SF), who averaged just under 30 points in the regular season, and 40.8 points in the postseason. In Glendora's first round win over Rancho Bernardo, Jacobsen became the eighth Southern Section player to eclipse the 1,000 point mark in a season, and the first junior ever to do so. The question for Artesia is who will guard Jacobsen. Guard Willie Alford is their top stopper, but at only 5'-10", he's probably too short. The burden may fall on Jason Kapono. Jacobsen finished with a playoff-low 24 points, as he was guarded by a taller player, but the Tartans still beat San Diego Rancho Bernardo, 63-59. The Tartans have several other solid options - including 6'-9" Dominic Degrassi and 6'-6" twins Chris and Chad Clark. Glendora also has 6'-2" point guard Earl Sanchez, who is back after recovering from a broken foot suffered in the middle of January. Sanchez had 10 points, including a key 4-point play, in the win at Rancho Bernardo.

A win tonight for either team will pit the victorious team against the winner of the Westchester v. Clovis West contest. If it's Artesia v. Westchester, it will give the Pioneers an opportunity to avenge their only loss of the season, a 61-51 loss in the Championship game at the Best in the West Tournament in December.

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Game 2:
Who: Clovis West (31-2) vs. Westchester (27-3)
Where: Loyola Marymount, 7:30 p.m.

Westchester plays Clovis West in today's other regional semifinal at Loyola Marymount. We don't know much about Clovis this year, except that they are pretty good, and frankly, we can't really figure out who decided Fresno should be in the Southern Region? Maybe the guys from Clovis can wave at the team from Ocean View in Division III as they pass each other on highway 5 as Clovis drives from Fresno to LA, and Ocean View drives from Orange County to Fresno.

Clovis West comes into this game at 31-2, having just defeated Manual Arts in the first round, and the fact that no one has really provided any details of the game, other than the box score, is driving a lot of us here in SoCal a bit nuts; there are no, none, nada, Fresno papers on the Internet yet, and even though the Bee (with editions in Sacramento Modesto and Fresno) has decided that news from Modesto and Sac is net-worthy, there's nothing from Fresno. Hence, we have to rely on other sources, some of which are not always timely.

What we do know is that Clovis is coached by Vance Walberg who's been coaching 20 years, mostly in northern California, and for a time in New Jersey. Clovis West is a school which has a tradition of being strong in the playoffs, and for the past two seasons they've made it to the Southern Regional finals of the State Tournament, where they've lost twice to Crenshaw. This year's team features a pair of 5'-10 points and one 6'-0" point: leading the backcourt are Ash Knowlton (5'-10" Jr PG), Mike McDonald (5'-10" Sr PG) and Chris Hernandez (6'-0" Fr PG). In the other two-guard spots are Jeff Evans (6'-0" Sr SG), Brad Hertel (6'-1" Jr SG), Kaleb Adams (6'-2" Jr SG), and Lester Williams, (6'-2" Sr SG). At the forward spots, look for Dion Aye (6'-3" Jr F) , Greg Nef (6'-1" Sr F), Jason Bow (6'-3" Jr F) who also doubles at the shooting guard spot, Joe Aiello (6'-4" Sr F), Myron Whitaker (6'-4" So F) and Brad Astin (6'-4" Sr F). Derek Henkelmann (6'-1" Sr. G/F) is very versatile and can play several positions. Clovis plays Chris Lopez (6'-6" So C) at the post, and at 225 he's a pretty big wide-body, with good ability to play with his back to the basket. In the game against Manual, Mike McDonald had 3 points, , Ash Knowlton 7, Lester Williams 18, Chris Hernandez 12, Derek Henkelmann 5, Joe Aiello 15, Brad Astin 18, Brad Hertel 3, Dion Aye 1. Look for the starting five to be either Chris Hernandez or Knowlton at the point, with backup from McDonald, and Williams at the 2 spot; Astin and Aiello will probably start at the forward spots, and Lopez will fill the middle.

Whether they've got the speed, height or muscle to stop David Bluthenthal (6'-7" Sr. C/F) inside, or the finesse to prevent Tony Bland (6'-5" Sr. SG) Albert Miller (6'-3" Sr. G) or Chris Williams (6'-1" Sr. G) from hitting from inside and outside with their fast break game, or the court-sense to stop Brandon Granville (5'-10 Sr. PG), who should be named City Player of the Year, is an open question. If Crenshaw is the benchmark for Clovis, then Westchester should be able to pull this off.

If you want to see this one, get there early. It'll be packed, and a lot easier to see than the Dominguez v. Compton game and probably just as, if not more, exciting than the Artesia v. Glendora game. These will both be great games, and if you only get to see just one, consider yourself fortunate. We'll be there too. Stay tuned for more.