cif318.htm

SoCal High School & Prep Report

CIF State Playoffs: A Brief
"Official" History--(March 19, 1998)

Since there haven't been any games this week (other than the NIT, the NAIA, NCAA Divisions II and III, and the upcoming round of Sweet 16 games tomorrow), we thought we'd do a little research on the CIF State Championships. Not the usual stuff about the teams that will be playing this weekend in Sacramento at the Pond--no, we'll have more of that later-- but on the actual history of the games. And what better source than the official CIF "Media Notes" which were distributed at the Southern and Northern Regionals this past week. Here's a look at the official line on the "Championship History" from the CIF:

Championship History

The CIF Arco am/pm State Basketball Championships were established in 1916 and held until 1928. The first state basketball championship was played between Whittier High and Berkeley High at Whittier High School on March 25, 1916. The final result: Whittier 31, Berkeley 20. In 1989, Glendora High standout Tracy Murray set a record for most points scored with a phenomenal 64-- more than Berkeley and Whittier combined in the first title tilt.

Girls' basketball joined the state championships in 1981 when the championships were renewed for both boys and girls. In its short history, the girls' CIF ARCO am/pm State Basketball Championshipos have experienced tremendous success with names like national record-holder Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie, Tanda Rucker, Kate Paye, Nicole Erickson and Timicha Kirby playing starring roles. Poin Lomas' four state championships (1984 Division II, 1985-87 Division I) have also highlighted girls' competition. The ladycats of Brea-Olinda, with a record six straight appearances, made it five state titles in 1994, while Sacred Heart Prep Atherton won its fourth straight title in 1996. Menlo School of Atherton won three straight titles in Division V (1989-91).

On the boys' side, Stockton High dominated early play winning four championships in the 1920's (1922-23, 1925, 1928). Crenshaw Los Angeles High equalled that dominance in the modern championship, winning four titles in the 1980's (1983, 1985-86, 1989) and adding four titles in the 1990'sa (1993-94, 1996-97). Besides Murray, great names like Michael Manning, Jason Kidd, Shon Tarver, Ed O'Bannon, Charles O'Bannon and Stais Boseman have participated in the state finals.

The CIF ARCO am/pm State Basketball Championships have come a long way since its beginning at Whittier High in 1916. The 1990 Championships marked the first time that all five boys' and girls' Divisions (I, II, III, IV, and V) were housed under the same roof--the Oakland Coliseum. Attendance for the two-day championships have eclipsed the 20,000 mark in six of the last eight seasons with a record 22,613 at the Arco Arena for the 1992 title game.

The south holds a 71-65 edge in overall titles won, winning seven out of 10 last year. The Northern girls hold a 38-30 edge over the southern girls while the southern boys hold a 41-27 advantage over the northern boys.

The above comes directly from the CIF's "Championship History" from the Media Notes. What it doesn't tell us, is what is the "modern championship" era? It seems that the tournament as originally structured ran from 1916 through 1928, when in the last game held on April 16, 1928 in Huntington Park, a team from Stockton, coached by Pete Lenz defeated a team from Santa Monica by a score of 26-12.

No doubt the low scoring and the stock market crash didn't help with the decision about whether to continue the tournament.

Apparently, the "modern" era began in 1981, when in a game held on March 14, 1981, a team from Bishop O'Dowd in Oakland (coached by Mike Phelps) defeated a team from Castlemont (also of Oakland) by a score of 70-69. It was not until the following year, in 1982, that one team from the south--in this case Carson, coached by Dick Acres-- defeated Washington High from San Franciso 54-53, to become the first SoCal Champion of the "modern" era.

Among coaches in Division I boys, the names to remember are these: Frank La Porte (Alameda St. Joe's), who won twice (1991 and 1992) with Jason Kidd, Ron Palmer of Long Beach Poly, who has won once in 1984, Gary McKnight of Mater Dei, with three titles (1987, 1990, and 1995), Reggi Morris of Manual Arts Los Angeles with one title (1988), and Willie West of Crenshaw High, who has an amazing 8 titles to his credit: 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1997.

Interestingly, the records put out by the CIF show that Division I Championship play was begun again in 1981 for the boys--although as noted above it was a game between two teams from the North, so how much of a "state" title was it?-- and in 1981 also for the girls in D-I.

But for the other Divisions, either the records weren't kept, those Divisions commenced participation later, or in some cases, the divisions weren't yet created. Division II play didn't start until 1982 when Drake of San Anselmo beat Banning 87-85 at the Oakland Coliseum in Boys' play. In Division III boys' records start with 1983, when Cloverdale defeated Crossroads 71-64 at the Sports Arena in LA. In Divisions IV and V, the records don't begin until 1988. In that year, Washington Union of Fresno (which now plays in Division III) won the D-IV title, beating Terra Linda of San Rafael 76-65. In Division V, the 1988 winner was Ripon Christian which defeated Calipatria 67-63.

We'll have more on the records, history of the teams and schools participating this year, and more. But for now, we thought you should know.