SoCal High School & Prep Report

Southern Section Playoffs: Division I-AA
Semifinal Previews--(March 1,1998)

In Division I-AA, the seeding actually worked. All four top seeded teams, placed into four different "Regional" bracets, survived through the quarterfinals, and they'll now matchup in the semifinals. The best of the best, and by Tuesday night, only two will be left standing, looking to square off in the Division I-AA finals.

On Tuesday, March 3, at A.B. Miller High School, Region III's Etiwanda, the overall No. 3 seed, will play Region II's Long Beach Poly, the overall No. 2 seeded team in the Division.

And also on March 3, but at Long Beach City College, No. 1 Artesia from Region I, will play No. 4 Simi Valley, the top seeded team in Region IV.

Here's a look at what's likely to happen and the complete rosters for all the teams.

Game I-- No. 1 Artesia v. No. 4 Simi Valley

Ah, the Pioneers of Artesia v. the Pioneers of Simi Valley. One thing is certain. The Pioneers will win. :-) Here's a look at the rosters and the probable starters:

These teams matchup pretty well, but the edge, at least on paper has to go to Artesia, with the taller starting lineup and the deeper bench. Of course, if Dean Bradshaw elects to start Shaun Michel at point in place of Branden Foster, and plugs Ian Boys into the lineup, the size advantage disappears, unless Artesia decides to put Fernandez, Martinez, O'Quinn and Hamilton in at the same time, a not completely improbable thing to do if Murdock gets in foul trouble. Oh yeah, and add Jason Kapono to that lineup, and frankly, while we really like Simi, there's a reason that Artesia is the No. 1 seeded team, and Simi is No. 4. For once the seeding committee folks look like they got it right.

In the last game, Jason Kapono scored 26 points, 17 in the first half, and grabbed 14 rebounds as Artesia beat Eisenhower, but only barely, 77-71 in the quarterfinals. Martinez had 18 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots. And those blocks may tell the story when Artesia plays Simi. Other than Berumen, Simi doesn't have as much shot blocking ability as does Artesia. The Pioneers also don't have great play at the point, unlike Artesia with Murdock, who in the last game had 16 points and seven assists. Jamal O'Quinn can also be a potent outside/inside scoring threat, and in the Eisenhower game he had 11 points. But on defense, other than the great ability to rebound and block shots, whoever was doing the guarding on the perimeter is going to have to step it up against Simi's outside shooters, in particular Branduinn Fullove, who tends to be streaky, but when he gets hot, is virtually unstoppable. We speak of the perimeter defense of Artesia needing to tighten up because in the Eisenhower game, Trenell Eddings made six 3-pointers, had 30 points, and actually put up 71 shots in the game, which means he was getting some serious open looks at the hoop.

The top-seeded Artesia Pioneers, have now won 15 straight, and have only one loss with a 28-1 overall record. The Artesia Pioneers' only loss came to Westchester in the championship game of the Best of the West Tournament, a not-too-shabby team to lose to, i.e., the possible City Section Division 4-A Champions.

Simi Valley also is peaking at just the right time. Brett Michel had 21 points, and Branduinn Fullove scored 19 against Bellflower on Friday. The Simi Pioneers are 25-5, but had three recent losses in Marmonte League, twice to Newbury Park. Center Rafael Berumen is generally considered among the top 10 juniors in the state and against Bellflower he had a "typical" performance with 18 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists, and he can be a scoring threat from inside, outside and medium range. He has a disturbing tendency though to fade down the stretch in big games, and was recently bothered by an elbow injury which kept him out of the last two league games before the playoffs. But he appears to be healthy and playing well in this final stretch.

We're not making any predictions. We've seen both of these teams many times this season, and either one of them could have the horses to get it done. It's going to be a tremendous contest, and we'll be there if we possibly can.

Game II--No. 2 Long Beach Poly v. No. 3 Etiwanda

This game will take place at A.B. Miller High on Tuesday, March 3. Here's a look at the two rosters and the probably starters:

Long Beach Poly is 27-5, and is playing some of the best basketball they've ever played. Ricky Anderson is hurt, but playing and if you think he's not going to start, you must have just bumped into a pole. . . really hard, because there's no way he's going to miss a start in what could be his last game as a senior. Wesley Stokes is always dangerous and atainst Capistrano Valley, he proved what many thought about him all along; for too long, scouts had been saying he had a good handle, but never shot. Not so in the Capistrano Valley game, where he scored 14 points, and was uncontainable. Mike McIntyre is a deadly shooter from outside, can hit the three, and Shelton Diggs is always good. How good is Anderson's ankle? No telling, but in the game on Friday, he still managed to come off the bench and score 11 points, grab 8 rebounds and block three shots in 20 minutes. Not too shabby.

Etiwanda though is a very quick team which also has a deep scoring threat in Corey Landrum, who scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds in the 79-77 win over Glen Summerall's Fontana on Friday. and Gary Colbert is always dangerous too for the No. 3 Etiwanda team, who is averaging about 24 points per game, and had 20 on Friday. Inside, Ryan Simpson is very effective and on Friday had 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Overall, these are two pretty evenly matched teams, but Etiwanda may be the faster team, and based on that we'd have to give them a slight edge. But then again if Chris Dill and Landrum aren't hitting their shots, and Stokes, Anderson, Keyon Cooley and Jaison Waltower are playing well, then it could be another repeat of the Crenshaw game at the MLK Classic, for Etiwanda.

We're not going to predict winners in any of these games, because literally anything can, and probably will happen. But we would urge you to go out and see these, or another of the games on Tuesday, and then again the finals on Saturday

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