SoCal High School & Prep Report

Reebok Vegas Prep Classic:
Jason Day's Second Day Report--(December 22, 1997)

So now that we're back from the briny deep, let the reports be uploaded, and the past re-written. Among our three correspondents at the Reebok Vegas Prep Classic was Jason Day, and he had this second day report for us which looks like it was written on the 22nd, so that's the date it bears above. We've only slightly edited to protect the innocent, and to implicate the guilty. Hey you know who you are, so don't even ask.

1997 REEBOK HOLIDAY PREP CLASSIC

DECEMBER 20

by Jason Day

This is the bomb! Period.

The 1997 version of this high school b-ball extravaganza is big fun for any basketball fan. While the consensus is that the field is not as strong, overall, as in previous years, there's still a ton of great basketball being played. There are outstanding individual and team performances, and there's just a lot of excitement in the crowd and among the players.

At this time of year, many of the top Prep teams are scattered all over the country, from Hawaii to Delaware, for different holiday tourneys, but the field in Las Vegas just proves that there are a quite a few "top" teams around this great land of ours.

The SoCal contingent hasn’t done too badly in this tourney. Compton, Westchester, and Poly have all survived the early wars and have a chance to move on to the semis and vie for the championship. Simi, Newbury Park, Harvard-Westlake and others haven't fared so well. But they've all played tremendous ball.

Westchester, USA Today’s #6 in the nation, will play it’s third game on Monday at 10:00am against Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas NV), the defending Nevada AAAA State Champions.

Westchester got to this point after being tested in both of their first two games. In game one they tested themselves by fighting to win a game that found them lacking in intensity and discipline. They had driven in from L.A., arriving at about 2:00pm Friday., and played South Mountain (Phoenix, AZ) at 9:05pm. They were clearly flat and their defensive intensity allowed a lesser team to almost make a game of it. (See the SoCalHoops report on this one for more particulars.)

In Westchester’s second game, all of us who were waiting to see how the Comets would handle some real competition got our wish. Las Vegas, a 25-7 league champion team last year, gave the Comets all they could handle. Although Westchester’s defensive intensity improved, their offensive execution was suspect. Coach Azzam even tinkered with the line-up early on, giving players like Lou Wright and Jacobe Durret a lot more time than usual. C.J. Williams did not play due to what appeared to be the flu. In any case, the Comets were able to eke out a 5 point victory. (See accompanying earlier report). If Westchester takes out Bishop Gorman early Monday morning, they will advance and take on Rice (NY), USA Today’s #9 team in the country.

Long Beach Poly’s team won it’s first three games handily (37, 9, and 16) and will play Washington Union (Fresno) at 12:50 on Monday. Ricky Anderson has been having a stellar tournament scoring 20, 22, and 37 in the games so far.

I personally believe the Washington Union team led by super-soph Deshawn Stevenson and "dunkmeister" Chris Jeffries is playing well enough to take this tourney. Their 85-66 win over Simi Valley was a statement. I’ll be at the Poly - Washington contest with bells on.

Compton, paced by their big three (David Hamilton, Deandre Moore, and Tito Maddox) had a fairly easy time of it in their first two games and will meet Mountain View (Mesa, AZ). View was 28-1 last year and demolished both of their early round opponents. This should also be an exciting and competitive game.

The other undefeated teams working toward the big showdown include Mt. Zion (NC), the defending tourney champs (minus Tracy McGrady but still loaded); Pleasure Ridge Park (KY), a team I haven’t seen yet; Graves County (KY), which beat Inglewood in an early round game (they get Mt. Zion at 3:40 on Monday); Galena (Reno, NV) advanced in the wake of a thrilling win over Central (Little Rock, AK) carried on the shoulders by their PG Lance Buonchristiani, one of the most talented little guys out here. Galena will meet Pleasure Ridge at 11:25 on Monday; and last but not least, Rice (NY) will play either Westchester or Gorman at 6:30 Monday evening.

I’ll do the best I can to pay attention to taking notes and preparing reports, but the distractions, posed by these great games, may just be too much.

And that's not all, since there are quite a few games to watch. As my new friend and colleague from SoCalHoops reported earlier, this is an exceptionally well run event. A professional show in every aspect. The hospitality has been great, and the support is excellent for those who are here to write about and simply enjoy watching some great high school hoops. It’s been a real pleasure for me to watch these athletes compete, and it's also been as much fun to a part of the atmosphere surrounding this event: The level of play, the fans and parents screaming encouragement (or blasting the refs), the coaches strategizing, the scouts (Bob Gibbons and his colleagues were there too, as well as Lute Olsen of Arizona, Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, and a ton of other guys who are not as well known but who scout for the colleges) each with their own secret codes and language being written on their programs or in notebooks, and even the occasional slightly cuckoo bball groupie who latches on and doesn’t know you from Adam but who simply must talk basketball with you at the press table, at the concession stand, in the bathroom. . . . and then there's the announcer at Durango's Main gym, who's really a terrific guy; the ladies back in the media room getting all the stats together for all of us to give to you, the bench players cheering for the starters and leaping out of the chair every time the coach looks down the bench. And, before I forget, I want to tell Jerry, David, T.J., Darlene, Lyman, Willie Sr., Willie Jr., Wayne, Mike, Greg, Brandon, Pat, Harold, Dart, Brian, Damien, and a whole lot more folks who's names I just can’t remember right now, how much fun it is hanging out with you folks.

Yes, this is a great tournament!

More later.

Jason Day.

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