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SoCalHoops High School & Prep Report

Bits & Pieces From Providence Summer League--(July 2, 1998)

The Providence summer league is still going strong, and we saw some great games this past Tuesday and tonight (yeah, we know we missed the first round of single elimination of the War on the Floor, but we're going back tomorrow for the finals). The big surprise of the Providence league has to be the team from New Roads School, which looks like mostly a bunch of TPI guys. We were intrigued by the team and by the school and learned that New Roads is an "offshoot" of Crossroads, having been formed about three years ago by the original founder of Crossroads. His intent was to continue to form new schools in the same model of education all across SoCal in order to enhance the opportunities for more kids. And New Roads is certainly providing some opportunities for some nice players.

New Roads is a very young team, led by Shamir Hernandez (6'-6" Fr. F/C), Eugene Hackett (5'-6" Fr. PG), Keith Jackson (6'-6" Fr. F/C), Don Echols (5'-10" So. G), Dan Barber (5'-11" So. G), Michael Lawson (5'-10" So. G), and Albert Hutchison (5'-7" Fr. G). Shamir is a big, strong but agile player, who can go from the perimeter to the post, and sort of reminds us a lot of Harrison Schaen. He's got pretty good footwork in the post, has a nice shot out to about 15' and can penetrate well off the dribble. But his real game is inside, rebounding and on offense he has a nice turn-around j. Hackett, Lawson, Echols and Hutchison can get confusing at times because they're all pretty similar players-- slashing, driving, shooting guards, each with a good handle and a nice shot. Really. Their games are pretty much interchangeable and we believe that's a good thing, especially for this young team, because it will enable them to grow together. Shamir and Hutchison are both on the TPI team which we're told is going to Florida in the next week or so, and the guys down in Florida had better watch out.

Unfortunately for New Roads on Tuesday they ran into a superior Buckley team and they got off to a very slow start, trailing at one point 20-8 in the first quarter. But behind the inside play of Shamir they closed the gap to 3 at the half, and then kept it a 4 point game until the end when Buckley again pulled away to win by 8. Buckley was led by the fine shooting of Colin Ward-Henninger (6'-4" So. SG/SF) and Jake Scannel (6'-4" So. F) inside, and we saw Colin take the high post and drive the lane for about 12 points. Down low Simon Leonove (6'-0" So. F) basically shut down Hernandez for the first three quarters, and he did a tremendous job sealing his man and boxing for the rebound. David Gale (5'-10 Fr. PG/SG) played great defense, and with the game down to 2 points in the final two minutes hit back-to-back three pointers to put Buckley ahead for good.

In the second game on Tuesday, Buckley's II team played Bell-Jeff's II team, and Buckley beat them by 9. David Gale and Steven Beroukhim (6'-0" Jr. G) played for both the I and II teams, and it was a great matchup between Gale and Romel Cabrerra (5'-9" Fr. PG) who also usually plays for Bell-Jeff's I team but elected to play in the second game as well. Romel is a very quick, agile guard, with a great shot from virtually anywhere out to three point range. He has a very nice high release, and he buried a couple of threes coming off of screens. Gale drove, penetrated, and in general distributed the ball well, ending up with 11 points. But Beroukhim was the real shooter for Buckley, and he finished with about 25, almost all from outside, where he was just deadly.

On Thursday, Bell-Jeff I played New Roads, and unfortunately for New Roads again, the result was not much different, except that this time it was Mike Yildiz (6'-0" So. PG/SG/SF) basically shutting down New Roads guards and their big guys, this time Keith Jackson, who's a bigger, seemingly stronger inside player than Hernandez. We saw Yildiz drive, dish, and basically dazzle with a few no-look passes and some impressive rebounds--impressive for a 6'-0" guy anyway. He's got great leaping ability, and Eli Essa may just have found his next Ruben Douglas. . . now if Mike would only lose the tattoo (sorry Mike, but it's gotta go).

Buckley II then played Bell-Jeff II again, and the result was the same, with Buckley winning by 8, although the Guards did manage to close it at the 3 minute mark in the fourth quarter. Gale was dishing, driving, and had a sweet cross-over just above the key which had one of the Bell-Jeff guards just crying. Beroukhim again was bombing them in from all over, and played great, as did Jake Scannell, grabbing 10 rebounds and hitting for 13 points.

In the final game of the evening, Buckley I took on Providence I, and for the first four minutes it looked as though neither team wanted to score. Providence finally broke the ice, and from there it was never more than a three point game, but Buckley lost by three in the final 12 seconds of the game. Adam Pastor (6'-0" Jr. PG/SG) continues to get better. Jake Scannel and David Gale also played in the second game, and both of them played great, with Gale alternating at point and Scannel in the post alternating with Colin Ward-Henninger, who had a "bad" game, hitting for only 15 points. Michael Lalazerian (5'-10" Jr. SG) played his usual tough defense, and hit two big threes in addition to some very nice j's.

League play continues next Tuesday, and we'll get a better look at some of the guys from Providence and Bell-Jeff, as well as the Milken varsity which plays in the Westside League, a small Division 5 league in L.A. And yes, it's true, not all the "big" basketball is played in CIF Division I or II. . . it just seems that way to the uninitiated.