DIIIA312.htm

SoCal High School & Prep Report

CIF State Playoffs: Southern Region
Division III Semifinal Preview--(March 12, 1998)

Chaminade (28-1) v. University of San Diego High (23-4)
Thursday 3/12
University of San Diego High, 7:30 p.m.

There will be two games played tonight in Division III, hence the name "semifinals", and the one most people will be watching will be this game, taking place in San Diego tonight. Chaminade comes into this game having won 25 straight, at 28-1, while University of San Diego High School comes in at 23-4, and having not lost a game since the MLK Classic in January.

University is ranked No. 9 in the State, and for once, as coach Jeff Young said the other day, "Now we'll get to see how Scott Borchart and Scott Long, Justin Beach, Justin Stewart and Cayce Cook do when they play against D-1 talent". Uni is not like all the others Chaminade has dismantled in five postseason games. The Dons have a frontline bigger and more experienced than Chaminade's, and they are tournament tested in big-time events. They played at the Slam Dunk to the Beach, and they played in the MLK Challenge at Pauley Pavilion on January 19th this year. In contrast, Chaminade held a Christmas Challenge which featured a bunch of teams from around the Valley who ultimately didn't have very good records, and there were really no true D-1 prospects in the tourney other than Chaminade. Then Chaminade traveled to Hawaii, where they won the tournament, and defeated Sonora, but without Jeffrey Berokoff who missed the trip. Chaminade has breezed through Mission League play, but seemed to stumble a bit early on, as they were almost upset by Harvard-Westlake twice, and played some other close games. But they've been getting better and better lately, playing up to the level of their competition.

Uni featueres Arizona-bound Luke Walton (6'-8" Sr. C) and brother Chris Walton (6'-7" So. F): They are the sons of Bill Walton. Luke is averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds a game, and is one of three starters who will play Division I basketball next season. Ronnie McMillan (6'-6" Sr. F), is being recruited by several schools and who will sign in the spring, is averaging 17 points per game; David Abramowitz (6'-0" Sr. PG) who will attend San Diego State is one of the top point guards in the state; on Tuesday he scored 23 points against Yosemite in Uni's first-round win. Kam Walton (6'-8" So. PF/C), cousin of Luke and Chris, usually starts at forward.

Chaminade, has Scott Borchart (6'-7" Fr. C) and Scott Long (6'-5" Sr. F), who will play at Navy next year, Justin Stewart (6'-2" Sr. PF), Justin Beach (6'-6" Sr. SG/PF) and Cayce Cook (5'-10" Jr. PG). Chaminade has an incredibly long bench, featuring 16 players, and if they can run with the Dons, they might be able to outlast them by sending in a set of fresh legs every couple of minutes.

Chaminade is coached by Jeff Young, while Uni is coached by Jim Tomey.

Be sure to check at Pat McKinney's USDHS Don's Website for the results of this game later tonight, as we're certain he'll be the first to have the results. . . unless he's sulking because the Dons have lost. But if they win, you can bet he'll be racing to tell us all the game story. Stay tuned.