DIV311.htm

SoCal High School & Prep Report

CIF State Playoffs: Southern Region
Division IV First Round Games--(March 11, 1998)

Southern California vs. Northern California Champion,
Friday 3/20/98
at ARCO Arena, Sacramento, 4:15 p.m.

As a reminder, we'll keep the plug for the State Finals at the top of each of the reports for the respective regions.

Not a lot of details, mostly just the scores and some highlights here. It seems that the further one gets down in the divisions, the reports become briefer and briefer. In fact in two games (Serra v. Corcoran, won by Corcoran, and Verbum Dei v. Garces, won by Verbum Dei) we couldn't get anything other than the bare score. We're still looking and when we find the details, you'll have them here; check back later. In the other two games, La Jolla beat Calvary Chapel, and La Jolla will play Corcoran; Verbum Dei will play Lincoln Academy this Thursday in the semifinals. Here's what happened yesterday:

Division IV

La Jolla Bishop 63, SA Calvary Chapel 58

Calvary Chapel wasn't hitting the three last night. As a result, they lost. Plain and simple. When a perimeter team doesn't score from the perimeter, and the other team does, it's a loss. La Jolla The Bishop's defeated Calvary Chapel 63-58, Tuesday night in the first round of the Division IV boys' basketball regionals. Although No. 7 seed Calvary still managed to hit three three-pointers, a fine day's work for most other teams, they were only 9 for 37 overall from the field. And their three-point percentage was not that great considering they only made three of 19 attempts. They were completely unable to take the ball inside. Result= loss for Calvary, win for La Jolla Bishop's.

The Knights (23-7) dominated the inside game. They were led by Mike Hausmann, a 6-7 forward and an All-San Diego Section water polo player, and Nik Booker, a 6-5 forward. Hausmann finished with 21 points and nine rebounds. Booker had 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Although Calvary Chapel, which finishes up at 23-8, was hurt by poor shooting, it was like The Bishop's were setting the net on fire either. At the half, the Eagles trailed by only five. Eagle guard Joe Ortiz, averaging more than 30 points in the playoffs, was limited to eight points. He was two of 14 from the field and was two of six from three-point range. Junior Brett Young scored 27 points, including four three-pointers.

The Eagles, who trailed by 8 at the end of the third quarter, 49-38, eventually dropped behind by as many as 16 in the fourth quarter. But they came back, rallying as close as five with a little more than a minute to play. But then they reverted back to their missing ways, and eventually could not overcome the deficit. Ortiz was one for nine from the field in the first half.

Verbum Dei 61, Bakersfield Garces 57

Again, amazing as it seems for a team from LA like Verbum Dei, and for a game played in LA, there were not reports that we know of or were able to locate. We're still waiting for a report from Bakersfield from our friends at Garces, and when we get it, we'll post it up.

Lincoln Academy (SD) 82, Santa Maria St. Joseph's 77

The Knights couldn't hold a 13-point lead going into the fourth quarter and lost the Division IV State Tournament first-round game at home. Lincoln Academy of San Diego used 5-for-5 free-throw shooting in the final stanza, two big steals by Rod Cooksey and a 3-pointer by John Allen with 44 seconds left to rally for the win. St. Joseph was hurt by a 6-for-13 performance from the line in the fourth quarter. The Knights, 21-5 and Southern Section Division 4AA champions, were led by Mike Hoffman with 20 points. Chris Merlo added 19.

**Update: Our friend George Groce, a died in the wool St. Joseph's fan, wrote to us with the following story. Frankly, since we weren't at the game, we don't know which version is correct. . . . but we're willing to bet it's George's. Here it is:

The St. Joseph Knights felt charitable at the charity line at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria Tuesday Knight in their opening round State game against Lincoln Academy. The Knights shot a miserable 20 for 44 from the free throw line while losing the game by only five points.

The Knights controlled the tempo of the game most of the way leading by as many as 13 points going into the final stanza. During the fourth quarter Lincoln went on a run and the Knights unraveled. The Knights missed 7 of thirteen free throws in the fourth quarter while Lincoln went five for five.

the Knights Mike Hoffman was the leading scorer for the CIF Division IV-AA champions with 21 points. He was followed by Chris Merlo with 18, Jason Williams with 14 and Matt Cova with 13.

Lincoln showed a lot of spunk and did not give up. They regained the lead for the first time since the first quarter on a three-pointer by John Allen with 44 seconds left in the game. Some sloppy ball handling and missed free throws ended up in a five point loss.

(We'll be back next year, we are only losing one senior starter and one reserve.)

George Groce

Corcoran 66, Serra 61

Just like the Verbum Dei game, it's amazing that no one we know went to this game. We're still looking for reports on this one, and if you have details, send them to us ASAP.