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SoCal High School & Prep Report

Southern Section: Division II-AA Finals
Santa Margarita Wins Over Compton--(March 6, 1998)

Compton (26-2) couldn't pull it off. Too much pressure, too many distractions, and too much sorrow surrounding the team and its best players. Last night Santa Margarita (28-2), Orange County's former No. 1 rated team which had dropped to No. 2 after losing to Servite, beat Compton 71-57 in the CIF Southern Section II-AA championship game.

Compton won the Moore League title this year for the first time since 1978 and advanced to the CIF final for the first time since 1990. Compton went into the playoffs seeded No. 1 , and Santa Margarita was seeded No. 2 in the Division. But in front of 4,340 Thursday night at the UC Irvine Bren Events Center, Santa Margarita emerged as the No. 1 finisher. The Tarbabes, who will begin CIF Southern California Regional play on Tuesday, fell short on trying to become the school's first CIF champion since 1969.

While the buzz had been that Compton's star forward, 6'-9" David Hamilton, who will attend Auburn next year, might not play due to a gunshot wound he sustained in a drive-by shooting which injured another boy and fatally wounded another 16 year old who was in the car he was driving, David did indeed play. And he didn't just show up. Nope, he really went out and played 28 minutes of hard, fundamentally sound basketball, and he was rewarded for the effort with 27 points from inside, and 12 boards.

But as well as Hamilton played, the rest of the Compton Tarbabes didn't. His Compton teammates shot only a combined 13 of 40 from the field. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 18-9, Santa Margarita. At the end of the second quarter, the score was 37-20, and things were looking pretty bleak for Compton. DeAndre Moore scored 11 points in the game, but they were all in the second quarter; no one else scored for Compton during the entire second quarter. In fact, Tito Maddox didn't hit a shot, missing all 11 attempts. Santa Margarita's pressure defense, employing an matchup-zone, kept the ball on the perimeter and away from Hamilton inside, which is exactly what it was designed to do. And Compton shot miserably from the perimeter, making only one of 12 three-point attempts.

In the second half, it got a little better, as Senior Ray Ross came off the bench to pick up some slack, contributing 10 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. That helped the Tarbabes sneak back within striking distance. Compton converted two Santa Margarita turnovers into baskets and trailed, 39-29, 38 seconds into the third quarter. When Hamilton got an easy tip-in at the other end, DeBusk called a 20-second timeout during which he told his team not to throw away the game because "we've worked too hard to get here."

Then late in the third quarter when Hamilton again cut the deficit to 47-38. On the ensuing possession, Compton's defense kept Santa Margarita from shooting and nearly caused a shot clock violation. But Santa Margarita's Williams hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock sounded, and then Craig Rice hit another three pointer, followed by Rice's driving layup, to bring the lead back to 12 points in what seemed like the blink of an eye. The Tarbabes came back again and had the lead down to 57-50 with 5:15 left after Hamilton scored five consecutive points, including a three-point play, but Santa Margarita responded with a layup by Dekker McKeever and another 3-pointer by Rice, and that pretty much finished it for the Compton guys.

While Santa Margarita couldn't really stop Hamilton, the Eagles had enough tricks up their sleeves to get the win, and avoid the result which occurred the last time SM played at the Bren Center, a three point very disappointing loss to Servite which resulted in SM losing it's No. 1 Orange County ranking. In getting the W, the Eagles won their third title this decade.

Santa Margarita shot very well, hitting 9 of 16 three-point attempts. Point guard T.J. Williams had 17 points and five assists, Rice had 15 points and 10 assists, McKeever finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Ryan Forehan-Kelly had 15 points, two blocked shots and two steals. McKeever made four of eight field-goal attempts Thursday. Williams hit five of 10 field goals, including three of five three-pointers. Forehan-Kelly was five of 10 with two three-pointers and guard Craig Rice connected on five of nine field goals and made three of five three-point shots, including two three-pointers late in the fourth quarter after Compton had pulled within nine points. Santa Margarita was 24 of 48 from the field.

Compton Coach Rod Palmer said that his team's poor performance was a combination of nerves and more nerves, and a lack of focus, much of which was caused by the pressure of the event, and Hamilton's shooting. "It had an effect," he told the Times. "I hoped it wouldn't but it took us away from the game. This was a serious event that happened. We can't help it and when one of your family is injured, it affects you."

Congratulations to Santa Margarita, the CIF Southern Section II-AA Division Champions for 1997-98, and congratulations to the second-place Compton Tarbabes.

Now it's on to the Regionals and the State Finals. Both teams are still in it. We'll have the schedules and the brackets soon.