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SoCal High School & Prep Report

CIF State Playoffs: USDHS Defeats
Chaminade By One Point!! The Details--(March 12, 1998)

Pat McKinney has worked incredibly quickly to be able to crank this one out within a couple of hours after the game, beating every major newspaper on the story. Read it and weep, Gary Klein, Steve Irvine and Steve Fryer. . . Just kidding guys, you do a great job, but maybe one day in the near future your newspapers will update their websites before the print versions are distributed, thus proving the true value of the web as an instant communications tool, instead of a substitute for the print media. Anyway, you'll notice a decidedly "Dons" flavor about this article, and for that we apologize, but consider the source. . . it's from the USDHS Dons Basketball Website after all. For all you Chaminade fans, please understand that the opinions expressed in the article are those of Pat McKinney. Some may agree with his views, particularly those views of Coach Young, and others may disagree strongly. We prefer to remain neutral, since we've seen some fine aspects of Chaminade, and know that coach Young, while extremely competitive by nature, really only has the best interests of his players at heart, even when it may not seem like it. He's a fine coach, and a pretty nice guy, and we're pretty certain that he'll one day be coaching at the next level. For now though, our congratulations to the Dons who advance, and also our deepest congratulations and condolences to the Chaminade guys: You had a great season, and brought home a CIF Southern Section Title. We'll have more later, but for now here's the story, courtesy of Pat McKinney:

Dons Finish Chaminade
Walton, Abramowitz Carry USDHS to 3rd Straight Regional Final

By Pat McKinney
USDHS Dons Basketball Website

The University of San Diego High School Dons showed tremendous emotion, discipline, and leadership in tonight's regional semifinal win over Chaminade before an absolutely packed house at the USD Sports Center. Uni overcame foul trouble and an early deficit to take out a team riding a 26 winning streak and advance to their third straight Southern California Regional Semifinal.

Point guard David Abramowitz upped the ante for the Dons as he was absolutely on fire in the first half. Coming off an outstanding performance in the victory over Yosemite, David proved why he is one of the top guards on the West Coast. The end of the game, however, fell into the hands of star forward Luke Walton, and he did not disappoint. Fighting through a gritty game, Luke was clutch in the end and sealed it for the Dons.

As for Chaminade, they have some incredible players, but some questions lingered in my mind. First, Scott Borchart is simply outstanding. This kid is a freshman who is playing just incredible ball and will be a superstar very soon. Scott Long is also a good shooter and gives Chaminade a devastating 1-2 punch inside. The problem is this: All year long we heard about their outstanding depth, stars off the bench, blah, blah, blah. Indeed, the Nade suited up 15, including some trees, but the Dons wound up deeper into their bench. Coach Young gave six players significant minutes and played a total of eight. Coach Tomey also played only eight, but gave significant minutes to 7. For all their supposed depth, this is probably one of the main reasons Chaminade could not come back in the fourth.

The second problem is with Coach Young himself. He is guiding a team that, at 27-1, can afford to show a little class. Instead, Coach Young spent the entire game prancing the sideline maniacally, working the refs for anything he could. It seemed to work in the first half, as he really had the ear of one of the officials. This strategy cost him in the second half, though, as his pleas fell on absolutely deaf ears.

The game itself had everything you could want: raw emotion, great players, clean, physical play, crisp offenses and outstanding defenses, and some nice comebacks.

The Dons started the following five:

Luke Walton 6'8 Sr. F
David Abramowitz, 6' Sr. G
Ron McMillan, 6'6 Sr. F
Carlos Cong, 5'5 Sr. G
Chris Walton, 6'6 So. F

6'8 So. F Kam Walton was available, but did not start due to a foot injury. By high school standards, USDHS is huge, but Chaminade came just as big with this lineup:

Justin Beach, 6'6 Sr. G
Cayce Cook, 5'8 Jr. G
Scott Long, 6'5 Sr. F
Justin Stewart, 6'2 Sr. F
Scott Borchart, 6'7 Fr. C.

Luke Walton won the tap, but tapped it out of bounds to Chaminade. Long hit a shot and Luke answered him on the other side. Uni got the ball back and Abramowitz hit a three, then the fouls started coming. In the first, the Dons looked anxious, excited, and it did not translate into great basketball. They were shooting the lights out but were way too aggressive on defense. Cook got 2 free throws before Long and Beach hit threes to give them a 10-5 lead. The teams would trade buckets before Beach and Borchart struck to push the lead to 16-10. Chaminade was huge inside: offensive rebounds were rarely available for the Dons and they had trouble playing man to man. Luke picked up his second foul and was forced out. David was feeling it, though, draining one from 26 feet out, giving him 11 for the quarter. Long answered, however, and Chaminade led 24-18 after one.

Both teams were forced into a zone and Luke opened the second with a three. Long drew another foul inside and hit one free throw. Foul trouble allowed Junior Conor Hulburt into the game and he played well, converting on a three point play to give the Dons the lead at 26-25 with 6:24 left; they would not give it back. Cayce Cook played well for Chaminade, but he looked confused in the second and gave up some turnovers which the Dons turned into points. Up 26-25, Abramowitz stole one from Cayce, drove the length of the court, scored, and forced an intentional foul. Dave converted the two free throws and found Luke on the possession and suddenly the Dons were up 32-25. The half would end with the Dons up 36-30.

The second quarter had been the Achilles Heel for the Dons in this year's playoffs, but they turned it around in this one. They outscored Chaminade 18-6 and proved to themselves they could win this one. Abramowitz led all scorers with 17 points, while Luke added 7 to go with three fouls. Senior Carlos Cong was great with 5 assists but also had 3 fouls. Scott Long had 11 for Chaminade at the half, just ahead of Borchart's 9 and Beach's 8.

Both teams settled into zones in the second half, and Chaminade really sagged off the outside shooters. Dave opened with a bucket and the teams were trading as Stewart, Walton, and Borchart scored. Luke hit Ronnie McMillan, who was having a good defensive game but was quiet on offense, for a two inside. It continued back and forth as the quarter ended with the Dons up 52-45.

Chaminade had no plans to roll over, however, and they set up for a fantastic finish. Ryan Cichon opened the fourth with a bucket. Luke took it inside and was fouled but missed but free throws, making him 0 for 4 for the game. Beach came back and scored to make it 51-49 with 5:41 left. Cichon would score a minute and a half later to knot it at 51. The Dons got a TO and reset. Luke found David for a deep two and Luke scored again to push the lead to 4. Long got inside for a put back to cut it to two with 2 and a half to go. The Dons had possession and were running the clock down when Luke scored on a runner as the shot clock expired. Beach scored on the other end and Abramowitz answered with a 3 to extend the lead to 5. Chris Walton picked up his 5th foul with 1:05 left on a three pointer by Long, who converted two of the free throws. Chaminade got the ball back and Borchart got loose inside, scored, and was fouled with the chance to tie. He missed and Chaminade was forced to foul Luke Walton. Luke hit both, 62-59 with :47 left. Borchart scored and again Luke hit two free throws, 64-61 with :18 left. On their final possession, Long launched a wild three that missed by 5 feet, but Beach threw down a nice putback as time expired to make it 64-63. The Dons escaped and were better in this outstanding battle between two incredible teams.

Abramowitz led all scorers with 29 points and Luke Walton scored 21, as on ly five Dons scored. Carlos Cong added 8 assists for USDHS. Chaminade had six make the scorebook, led by 19 from Long, 17 points, 8 boards for Borchart, and 14 for Beach. Cayce Cook scored 7 to go with 8 assists.

Here are the complete stats for both teams.

The win puts the Dons back in the Regional Final, to be held at the Long Beach State Pyramid Saturday night at 8:00 pm. The opponent presumably will be Washington Union, unless Ocean View pulled off the upset. Union is top ranked in Division III in the state, inexplicably slipping past the Dons at midseason. We don't much about them, such as who they have played, but the Dons welcome another crack at the title. At least it isn't Harvard-Westlake standing in the way this year...