IIIA303.htm

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Southern Section Playoffs: Division III-A
Finals Preview--(March 3, 1998)

So it's going to be Chaminade against Bishop Montgomery in the Division III-A finals.

Division III-A Semifinals

Chaminade (26-1) v. Bishop Montgomery (21-6)

When: Saturday, March 7, 1998, 11:15 am

Where: Arrowhead Pond of Anahiem

Top-seeded Chaminade (26-1), which has won 23 consecutive games, has won its three playoff games by an average margin of 34 points. Chaminade, which has only a small schools division section title in 1971 to its credit, will face Bishop Montgomery in the Division Finals March 7 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

Chaminade has one of the longest benches around, featuring 15-17 players, and as a result, there is some very fine talent that doesn't get to see much time on the floor. We know that Jeff Young has been trying to get as many guys into the games as possible, but at this time of year, its win or die, and so he's pretty much sticking with a 7 or 8 man rotation. What this will do to his team next year is anyone's guess, and it's probably not a legitimate concern because Chaminade is trying to accomplish something they've not done before, and that is complete a season with only one loss, win a Southern Section title and move on to a possible State Championship. The Eagles have only lost to Simi Valley, which is a Division I-AA team which will be playing Artesia in the semifinals tonight, and that was back at the beginning of December, one of the first games played by a somewhat youngish (no pun intended) Eagles squad which features a freshman and a junior in the starting five. Chaminade's starting five, barring a catastrophe, will be:

Cayce Cook (5'-8" Jr. PG)
Justin Beach (6'-6" Sr. SG/F)
Scott Long (6'-5" Sr. F)
Scott Borchart (6'-7" Fr. C)
Justin Stewart (6'-3" Sr. F)

Cook is a driving, slashing type of point, with strong ball skills, who has improved immensely from the start of the season. Beach is a sometimes streaky shooter, who has great size, and can hit from inside or outside, and has tremendous rebounding abilities. In fact, the entire team has tremendous rebounding abilities, best exemplified by Borchart, the freshman phenom. In a way, it's too bad Chaminade didn't move up for the playoffs, because it would have been interesting to see Borchart play against someone like Tyson Chandler, or David Hamilton, or even Artesia's big men. Why let Berumen have all the fun? Borchart is one of the best, if not the most talented freshman big men in all of SoCal, and Barstow will have it's hands full. Long and Stewart are not the biggest players at the forward spots, but they are both talented, can shoot the lights out, and lend their senior leadership, which will be very important as others like Chris Canoles (6'-1" Jr. G) come in off the bench. Chaminade also has JJ Todd, one of the the larger bench players who at 6'-10" has rarely seen action this year. Todd is a junior, and if he can improve his game over the summer, he and Borchart should make for one of the most formidable frontlines next year that the area has ever seen. There are a number of other guys who come in off the bench, including Robbie Tanouye (5'-8" Jr. PG) who doubles for Cook, Ray Rodriguez (6'-2" Sr. G) who has seen some play, Nick Lawson (5'-8" Jr. G) who rarely plays, Jeff Stein (6'-3" Sr. G), Clarence Mitchell (6'-3" Jr. G), Matt Chirba (6'-5" Sr. F), Mike Kokorowski (6'-2" Sr. F) and Josh Levy (6'-4" Jr. SG/G), who has seen almost no playing time, but who is perhaps one of the best three point shooters on the team.

On Friday, Chaminade's starters played great, making 76% of their shots (37 for 49) in a 92-60 victory over Cabrillo in a semifinal at Simi Valley High. Cayce Cook, had 12 assists, four steals, and finished with nine points. Scott Long finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Justin Stewart made all 14 of his shots and scored 28 points, missing only a free-throw.

Torrance's Bishop Montgomery for it's part is a very young talented team, which seems to be coming together after suffering some bad losses during the early season. Up front, the big men are Tony Booker (6'-4" Jr F) and Lamar Lawrence (6'-6" Sr F); these are two good players, but whether they'll be able to deal with the 6'-9" Borchart and his supporting cast down low on the boards is something only time will tell, but at least on paper, it looks like a mismatch. Marvin Perez (6'-4" Jr F) is a good outside shooter; Brian Pruitt (6'-5" So F) is another good outside three point shooter who can also drive. Garrett Lee (6'-4" Jr G) plays the shooting guard spot for Barstow who also presents an inside and outside threat. Barstow also features several freshman at the guard spots, including 6'-0" DeVaughn Peace, 5'-10 Sig Singleton, and brothers Derrick and Errick Craven, 6'-1" each. Barstow also features Kenny D'Oyen (5'-6" Fr PG) at the guard spot. Bishop Montgomery's made it to the finals by winning in double overtime agaisnt Estancia last Friday, as Garrett Lee stole a pass at half court and scored with less than 10 seconds left, in a game that was tied 14 times. Tony Booker had 14 points and Errick Craven had eight in that game.

Whether BM is ready for the huge frontline, and the outside shooting of Chaminade is something we can't predict, but it will be one of the better contests on Saturday. This will be a great game so don't miss it. See you at the Pond.