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SoCal High School & Prep Report

Southern Section Playoffs: Division IV-A
Verbum Dei Defeats Gardena Serra 56-48 For Title--(March 8, 1998)

Marlon Parmer (6'-1" Jr. PG) scored 32 points for the Verbum Dei Eagles as they won the CIF Southern Section Division IV-A Championship for the first time under former Verbum Dei and UCLA star David Greenwood, Verbum's new head coach. Parmer, a junior, shot nine for 14 from the field, and played outstanding offensively and defensively, and was without question the player of the game. And while this game got off at 9:30 a.m. at the Pond yesterday, and was therefore only sparsely attended, it was still an exciting contest, pitting Parmer and his crew against the quick Serra squad. Verbum Dei is now 19-5 on the year, and both teams will advance to the State Southern Regional Playoffs, which begin this Tuesday. Serra is 20-9 on the year.

Parmer also handed out six assists in the game, had two three-pointers (the only ones for Verbum in the game) and he was just everywhere in this one as the Verbum Dei Eagles denied Serra's first ever sectional title since 1993 when they defeated the Eagles. 69-53. This is the third Southern Section title for Verbum Dei since 1989. While Serra dropped the loss to Parmer & Co., the Cavaliers were led by Earl Lewis (6'-5" Jr G/F) who scored 20 points and grabbed 11 boards.

Verbum Dei jumped out to a 13-8 lead in the first quarter behind the scoring of Dalron Johnson (6'-8"Jr F/C)-- not to be confused with Serra's Davon Johnson, who's almost a foot shorter and plays the point-- and Parmer. But Serra, which fell behind by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, came storming back on a 15-0 run and outscored Verbum 17-7 in the second quarter, topped off by a three pointer from Doyle Cole (6'-4" So. G/F); Parmer finally broke the drought for VD, with a shot with 1 minute remaining in the half, but that was all the scoring in the period. The teams went into the half with Serra leading 25-20.

In the second half though, Greenwood's own championship experience and fine leadership must have fired up Verbum, because it was all Verbum, or rather Parmer, in the third and fourth quarters. In the fourth, Verbum outscored Serra 18-11, and in the fourth they outshot Serra 18-12. In the third quarter, Serra remained poised for the first few minutes, taking a 27-21 lead as Aerick Sanders (6'-7" So.F/C) made two free throws with 5:47 to play in the period. But Verbum Dei never let the lead of Serra get beyond six points, and regained the lead for good at 38-36 on a tip in by Washum Dashiell (6'-3" Jr SG/SF), who made the basket off a missed free throw late in the third. Serra then tied the game to start the fourth quarter on a Sanders layin, but Serra then went completely cold for three minutes of the total 8 in the quarter, as Verbum extended the lead to 45-40 in the fourth. While Serra was able to tie the game with 2:26 remaining at 46-46 on a Davon Johnson (5'-10" Sr. PG) basket and free throw, Parmer came right back with two charity shots of his own with 1:48 to give Verbum the lead for good.

For Verbum Dei, the scoring was accomplished by Robert Watkins (6'-1" So SG) who had 2 points, Dalron with 13, Parmer with 32, Dashiell with 5, Larry Davenport (6'-4" Jr F) who scored 2 points, and Ricardo Suazo (6'-5" Jr F) also with 2.

For Serra, Davon Johnson (5'-10" Sr PG) scored 5, Corey Rainwater (6'-6" Sr F/C) had 2, Leron Geter (6'-1" Sr G/F) also scored 10, Palmer Brown (6'-4" Jr F) had 3 as did Cole, with his coming on the only three-point basket for Serra in the game. Sanders was held to only 5 points, and Lewis, with 20.

Congratulations to Verbum Dei, the 1997-98 CIF Southern Section Division IV-A Champions, and to runner-up Gardena Serra. Both of these teams will advance to the State Southern Regionals, and one of them may make it to the State Finals. Stay tuned. We'll have the brackets up later.