IIAA302.htm

How many times does the seeding actually work like it's supposed to? We not certain, but it sure worked in this Division. Overall No. 1 Seed Compton will play overall No. 2 Seed Santa Margarita in the Division II-A Finals which is set for Thursday March 5 at 7:30 PM at the Bren Events Center at UC Irvine. Of course this conflicts with the UCLA v. Arizona State, but then what's really important, anyway? You can see UCLA go at it almost anytime. How many more times will you get to see David Hamilton, Deandre Moore, Tito Maddox, Milton Riley and the rest all play together as a team? Just this once, that's how many times.

Probably starters for Santa Margarita Ryan Forehan-Kelly (6'-4" Sr F) Craig Rice (6'-2" Sr G) Dekker McKeever (6'-7" Sr F) Jake Rohe (6'-5" Sr F/C) T.J. Williams (6'-0" Sr PG)	Probable starters for Compton: DeAndre Moore (5'-8" Sr. PG) Reggie Howard (6'-2" Sr. SG) Tito Maddox (6-4" Jr. SG) Milton Riley (6'-7" Sr. PF) David Hamilton (6'-9" Sr. C/PF)
Reserves: Carson Palmer (6'-5" Sr F) Jeff Blackburn (6'-3" Jr F) Grant Brown (6'-6" Sr F) Ryan Dwight (5'-9" Jr PG) Spencer Gloger (6'-3" Jr G/F) Al Jahroumi (5'-9" Sr PG) Parker McMannes (6'-3" Sr F) Steve Pearce (5-9 Sr PG/SG) Tim Rahall (6'-3", Jr SG) Paul Restelli (6'-2" Sr G/F) Steve Tashjian (5'-10" Sr SG) Kelly Kramer (6'-4" Jr F)	Reserves: James Cummings (5'-10" Jr. PG) Lanere Anderson (6'-0" Jr. PG) Dony Legans (6'-0" Jr. SG) Ray Ross (6'-4" Sr. SF) Jeremiah Thompson (6'-4" So. PF) Ellis Myles (6'-4" So. SF) Terry Hosendove (6'-4" Jr. SF) Robert Ringer (6'-5" SF)

Santa Margarita features a very well-balanced team, which has the shooters, rebounders and defenders to play every spot on the floor with equal precision and depth. T.J. Williams at the point is both a shooting point and a passer. Craig Rice can shoot inside or out, and is a great defender, and Ryan Forehan-Kelly and Jake Rohe are both talented spotting up or driving off the defender. Combing that with inside power from Dekker McKeever and Carson Palmer, and you've got a pretty potent mix. Maybe they'll give Compton a run for their money, just like they did with Inglewood when Craig Rice and Jake Rohe had 14 apiece, and Dekker McKeever and Ryan Forehan-Kelly both scored 10. Santa Margarita is 27-2 this season, and has played a very strong, steady season.

Compton, on the other hand, has played almost schizophrenic this year. They can be either very good, or very bad. Fortunately for them, lately they've been very, very good. Taking their cue from senior leadership, David Hamilton, who is bound for Auburn, has been both the catalyst, and has acted like mixing oil and water. If he can play under control, and can effectively focus, then Compaon just might win it's first Championship in a long, long time. When Maddox is on, he's very good, but he's played streaky for the last several games, and it all depends on which one of the Titos shows up tomorrow. Last Friday against Brea Olinda, Maddox had 20 points and Deandre Moore had 25 points. Combine that with the talent of Milton Riley and Reggie Howard, and this should be just a great game.