hart qfinal

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Hart Tourney: Simi Advances
in Quarterfinals--(December 29, 1997)

Simi Valley played it's ninth game in 11 days Saturday, but still managed to hold off Canyon, 65-48, on Saturday in a Hart tournament quarterfinal. Simi Valley, which improved its record to 11-2 (having sustained both of it's losses in the Vegas Tourney, and ranked No. 1 in the region by the LA Times (read Eric Sondheimer), was then slated to meet Sylmar, which won 57-51 W.F. West of Washington, in a semifinal game to be played today, Monday December 29, 1997. "I want to rest and recover from the flu" said Rafael Berumen. Even though he wasn't feeling very good, he still managed to collect 20 points and 10 rebounds. "I'm so tired, all I want to do is sleep," said Rafael. Simi Valley was obviously exhausted and played like it. But they managed to build up a 31-29 lead at the half. The Pioneers then outscored the Cowboys (6-7), 17-4, over the last 3:15 of the period to take a 48-33 lead. "I don't think they thought we would give them such a battle," said Canyon Coach Dave Humphreys, whose team will meet W.F. West on Monday in a fifth-place semifinal. Sophomore forward Brett Michel had 16 and four assists. Michel and Branduinn Fullove, who had 15 points, also are recovering from colds caught last week in Las Vegas at the Reebok Holiday Classic, where the Pioneers had to play five games in four days. Guess we were smart to have left on Saturday night, since we've heard about a bunch of other guys who got sick there too.

And while we're on the subject of colds and flu, here's a message for Michael Miller over at West Coast Hoops: Get well soon. We're counting on you to go to San Diego to check out the doings there.

Back to the Simi game: For Canyon, Suarez finished with 11 points, while Justin Orefice added 10 points.

In other quarterfinal tournament games at Hart:

Sylmar 57, Washington W.F. West 51--Brandon Jacobs had 21 points and five steals and Joey Youman added 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for the Spartans, who improved to 5-4 in a quarterfinal victory. At least there were no reports of their coach storming off the court. But then maybe he's checked the rule book by now and discovered that even if he does get ejected, the team can still play with its players on the floor. W.F. West, which fell to 3-2, and which overcame a 17-point deficit to Valencia on Friday night, trailed by 11 points in the fourth quarter before cutting the margin to 51-48, but they just couldn't close the gap. W.F. West will meet Canyon today, Monday, December 29 at Hart.

Cleveland 81, Royal 47--The Cavaliers, ranked No. 5 in the region (by Eric Sondheimer of the LA Times) took a 37-18 halftime lead and continued to roll in another quarterfinal. Kent Dennis (who interestingly, will probably not match up against former teammate Ruben Douglas now that Bell-Jeff lost--see below) had 20 points, seven assists and five rebounds, Brian Smith collected 15 points and 10 rebounds and Quante' Randolph added 13 points for Cleveland (10-3). Dusty Cruz scored 13 points and Cam Dickson had 12 for the Highlanders (5-6).

San Fernando 75, Hart 59--The Tigers' quarterfinal victory sets up a Northwest Valley Conference matchup in one semifinal. The Tigers, who improved to 12-1 with the win, and who are variously ranked as either the No. 3 (Times) or No. 2 (Daily News) team in the region and the North Valley League favorites, face West Valley League kingpin Cleveland. The teams also meet on Jan. 14 in a conference game. San Fernando's Devin Montgomery made 11 of 16 shots from the field and finished with 31 points. Guard Luis DeLaRosa had 13 points and Tyrone Purnell added 11 points and 13 rebounds. Jerry Owens scored 16 points and J.T. Stotts had 15 points and five steals for Hart (6-6), which plays Royal in a fifth-place semifinal.

Glendale 65, West Bakersfield 63--The Dynamiters led by 14 at halftime, but needed an 18-foot jumper from Eddie Karibyan at the buzzer to win a consolation quarterfinal. Glendale (7-6) will face Sanger, a 43-38 winner over Murphy, on Monday in a consolation semifinal. Karibyan, a sophomore who began the season on the junior varsity, finished with 13 points. Teammate Ronald Baghomian had 26 points and eight rebounds.

Valencia 85, Beverly Hills 59--Jerrohn Jordan had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Vikings, who improved to 10-3 in a consolation quarterfinal. Fabian Leon added 15 points and 14 rebounds and Eskias McDaniel scored 13 points for Valencia, which meets Hollywood on a Monday in a consolation semifinal.

Hollywood 76, Bell-Jeff 71--Poor Ruben Douglas. Even though he managed to score 35 points, and his court-mate Mike West added 24, but they just can't get it done with only two players. And this once again proves that 2-on5 doesn't work, even against a team which was not very highly regarded like Hollywood, which had come into this tournament and this game winless. The Guards fell to 6-5, while the Sheiks picked up their first win, and are now 1-7 in this consolation quarterfinal.

We'll try to keep abreast of this tourney (or maybe a thigh). If you're going to these games, and have some thoughts or impressions, let us know.