VAA303

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Southern Section Playoffs: Division V-AA
Semifinal Previews--(March 3, 1998)

Division V-AA Semi-Finals

Tonight: March 3, 1998, 7:30 p.m.

Where: St. Genevieve High

What: Game 1: Montclair Prep (26-3) v. Pacific Hills (22-7)

This is going to either be a real battle for Montclair, or it will be a blowout, in which case, Montclair could have an easier time of it with either Santa Clara or Chadwick. We're betting that this could be a game which will give the Mounties trouble, especially if Rocky Steryo has trouble heating up. Montclair features a very tall, quick and athletic group of players, from the 6'-1" Steryo to the 6'-10" Jed Hall. In between, there's Jules Thompson, Carlease Clark and Kevin Bentley. Micah Cohen, a standout guard who transferred to Montclair from Crossroads is questionable; he reportedly played on Friday but couldn't go hard, and was taken out by coach Howard Abrams. We've written an awful lot about Montclair this year, and if you want to see our early season profiles of the team, here's the link. And just for the sake of convenience, here's the complete roster for Montclair Prep this year:

Jason Anderson (6'-8" Jr PF/C)
Kevin Bentley (6'-2" Sr SF/PF)
George Brown (6'-1" Sr F)
Carlese Clark (5'-10" Sr. PG)
Micah Cohen (5'-10" Sr PG/SG)
Chidi Daniel (5'-9" Sr PG)
Jedediah Hall (6'-71/2" Sr PF/C)
Geoff Hull (6'-2" Sr F)
Denek Smith (6'-0" Sr SG)
Rocky Steryo (6'-2" Sr SG)
Jules Thompson (6'-3" Sr F)
Ryan West (6'-2" Sr SG)

For Pacific Hills, that small private school over in Beverly Hills which used to be called home for Monica Lewinsky after she left Beverly High, we don't really have a complete roster, but we do know some of the players, including Conrad Adamczak

These two teams have already gone at it this year, on January 20th, and Montclair won 69-56. That was at Montclair in a game which was marred by trash-talking and some rough play. Tonight's game will be on a "neutral" court over at St. Gen's. But we're still willing to bet that Montclair will take this one for the second time this year. Pacific is a good team, with an impressive record, but they just don't appear to have the horses to take this one.

Tonight: March 3, 1998, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Peninsula High

What: Game 2: Chadwick (15-4) v. Santa Clara (13-12)

Chadwick, the No. 2 seed, moves to the semifinals with a 15-14 mark. Chadwick features Peter McCaskin and 6'-4" David Cann. They've got a better record than Santa Clara, and were also the Prep League Champions this year, beating Pasadena Poly, which was unbeaten through the CIF SS title game last year. Chadwick also features Ryan Meier, one of the standout scoring aces this year, who has averaged about 15 or so per game Chadwick also features Ryan Haden and Marshall Duncan.

Santa Clara, on the other hand, has really struggled this year. Santa Clara Coach Lou Cvijanovich has experienced a new world order as his team failed to win the league, and lost more games than they won in league play for the first time in memory. Ryan McGill, who has stepped in for guard B.J. Ward and swingman Nick Jones, is performing very well. On Friday he led all scorers with 24 points and tie for the team lead with 10 rebounds. Santa Clara also has Scott Zorich a fine scoring player who had 13 on Friday.

We like Santa Clara, but this game is really a toss-up and either team could do it. Sounds kind of gutless on our part not to pick a winner; our sentimental favorite is Santa Clara, but our head tells us it could be Chadwick. You call it.