scpre306

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Southern Section Playoffs: Division V-AA
Finals Preview--(March 6, 1998)

What: Division V-AA Finals

Who: Pacific Hills (23-7) vs. Santa Clara (14-12)

Where: Bren Events Center, UC Irvine

When: Today, 6 p.m.

Santa Clara junior swingman Nick Jones has scored 35 points in three games since returning to the lineup. Guard B.J. Ward averages 18.8, center Ryan McGill is at 13.7 and forward Scott Sorich at 10.6 for the Saints. Pacific Hills rotates 10 players, with senior forward Conrad Adamczak averaging 19.8 points and 8.2 rebounds, guard Ryan Abrahams averaging 19.4 points and point guard Brandon Owens averaging 8.7 points and 7.0 assists in an up-tempo offense. Santa Clara is making its 17th appearance in a final and is shooting for its 15th championship.

Unseeded Santa Clara (14-12), defending division champion, is on a familiar path, in search of its 15th section title in Coach Lou Cvijanovich's 40-year tenure. Fourth-seeded Pacific Hills (23-7), which won against Montclair in a nail-biter, a triple overtime which was excrutiating because it seemed no one wanted to win it, is Santa Clara's last obstacle. Whether they will be able to overcome the barrier is an open question.

"A lot of bad things happened this year," Santa Clara guard B.J. Ward told the LA Times. "It seemed like things were falling apart there for a while." On the first day of practice junior Nick Jones broke his left foot when he stepped on another teammate's foot; forward Dave Harper suffered a broken index finger; Cvijanovich's older brother died five weeks ago; three weeks ago, the coach underwent gall bladder surgery. "From the first day of practice, it's been a lot of struggle, a lot of heartache," Cvijanovich told the Times "These kids will go down in history as some of the toughest we've ever had." Santa Clara has won four consecutive road games on the way to the final. The last three victories have come with help from Jones, who had 17 points and seven rebounds in a semifinal victory over Chadwick.

The Saints say it is no coincidence that their playoff surge parallels Jones' return. "It's not just his points and rebounds," Ward said. "He gives us confidence, he's a hard worker on defense and he's our leader. We were all there, playing as a team and then when Nicky went down, it was like we were kind of lost for a while." Without Jones, who averaged 16.5 points and 9.9 rebounds as a sophomore, Santa Clara tied for third in the Frontier League with a 4-6 record after winning 13 consecutive league titles. "We played like we had a piston missing," Cvijanovich said. "But we're hitting on all eight cylinders now."

We've already covered several of Pacific Hills' players in our report of the semifinals agaisnt Montclair Prep on Tuesday night. Suffice it to say, that Pacific Hills is no pushover, and Santa Clara will have its hands full. PH is led by 6'-5" Conrad Adamczak, who can score from inside or outside, and who played very well against Montclair. PH also has a trio of fine guards in Charles Pagan, Ryan Abrahams and Branden Owens, all of whom are capable of scoring from the perimeter or taking their man off the dribble and driving to the hole. Word has it that that the coach of PH is someone named Bobich, but we can't be sure. . . repeated attempts to contact the school's Media and Sports Information Director yielded no response. In fact we discovered that Pacific Hills doesn't have a Media or Sports Information Director. . .:-).

If you're not over at the Sports Arena watching the City Section Girls' 4-A Championship, and you make it down to Orange County, don't miss the game. And remember, also on tap tonight is the Chaminade v. Bishop Montgomery game following at 8:00 p.m. at the Bren Center. Good luck to everyone. We'll have reports on the winners of these games later. Stay tuned.