SoCal High School & Prep Tourney News

Wooden Inaugural H.S. Invitational:
Glendora v. Ayala--(December 5,1997)

First, the score: Glendora won by 19 points over a pretty outmatched, but great group of kids from Ayala, 62-43. Second, if you want to see what we thought of Glendora before this game, after you read this game report, check out our preseason preview of the Glendora Tartans.

But before we get to the details of the game, a few observations, in no particular order.

This game matched up two of the best high school coaches in SoCal. Mike LeDuc is in his 11th year at Glendora, and he's got a 268-40 record an amazing .877 winning percentage. He's coached Tracy Murray, and Cameron Murray, and this year's team has a player who could eclipse Tracy's scoring record: Casey Jacobsen, who at his current pace could smash Murray's school record and the state scoring record as well. Murray is the all-time leading high school scorer in California history. Ayala is coached by Tom Gregory, one of the nicest men you'll ever meet. He's in his eighth year, and has compiled an impressive 141-49 won-loss record at Ayala. The Bulldogs were anxious to avenge a loss last year to Glendora. Both teams were warming up at well before 5:00 pm. Tip-off was scheduled for 5:30.

But let's digress a bit before the game: Anyone who's never seen a game at the Pond (and this includes hockey or basketball) should go. It's got to be one of the absolute best venues to watch a sporting event. It's clean, the food concessions are everywhere and varied, and the food itself is pretty palatable. It's a true Disney operation, and the ushers all wear those same little badges (or at least the same style) that you see on Disney employees at the Disney theme parks. This has also got to be the cleanest sporting venue in America (or at least one of the cleanest). There's marble walls and floors everywhere, the restrooms are spotless, there are shops in the hallways, parking is excellent and they've even got ATM machines that work (unlike the Sports Arena's which is always broken). It's sort of like a really nice mall, where you can also see a basketball game if you want. Now we at SoCalHoops also don't want Sterling to move the Clippers to Anaheim, because it would be a pretty long schlepp just to get there, and the Orange County folks wouldn't know what to do with a team that's 2-13 anyway (they'd probably run them like they did to the Rams) but Sterling is really nuts to let the Clippers continue to play at the Sports Arena. . .But then he's probably crazy like a fox, since it can't cost him much to rent that barn. Maybe the Clippers will go to the Inglewood Forum when the Lakers move over to the new Staples Arena in downtown Los Angeles, but with new arenas like the Pond cropping up all over, even the Forum doesn't seem so "fabulous" any more.

Anyway, did we mention that the Pond is a great place to see a basketball game? We did? Oh.

Yes, there were a couple of games played last night in Anaheim. Glendora v. Ayala, game one; Mater Dei v. Crespi, game two, and Los Alamitos v. DeMatha, game three.

The games started at 5:30 promptly and didn't end until close to midnight. In between there was this pretty silly "celebrity" game which ate up a half hour between the second and third games. As a result, the De Matha-Los Al game didn't get going until almost after 10:00 pm, which, in case someone doing the scheduling missed, was 1:00 a.m. for DeMatha which had traveled to SoCal the day before.

Anyway, let's talk about what we have to talk about. The first game. Ayala v. Glendora.

As we said, the final game score was 62-43, but it could have just as easily been 162-43; and it could have also been much closer, had Ayala's point guards managed to get the ball down low and inside more often to May, Dolven or Ayala reserve Daniel Sherman (6'-6" Jr. F). And it could have been a whole lot bigger win for Glendora had Coach Mike LeDuc not put Casey Jacobsen out on the point so much, and instead posted him high or doubled up with Dominic down low and simply pounded the ball inside. Really, Glendora could have done that all night. It might not have been pretty to watch, and wouldn't have been as entertaining, but it probably would have been better basketball, and would have gotten the job done more efficiently.

About Glendora:

Earl Sanchez: He's listed at 6'-2" in the program, and is a senior. We don't want to say that LeDuc is pumping the stats, but he sure didn't look 6'-2", but maybe he is. Even though the Pond is a great place to watch basketball, the perspective is kind of weird--it's a real tall and narrow building, so that the upper deck seating is much closer than, say at the Forum. The room thus looks a little squished in, and the court looks longer and narrower. Maybe this affects how the players look. . . but Sanchez sure doesn't look 6'-2". Never mind that, he can play. He's got a great handle, and a very nice, smooth j from the top of the key and all the way out to 3 point land. He makes very nice passes, is really, really quick, and has the body of a 6'-2" guy, well developed upper body, quick legs and feet. He can also rebound pretty well too. Why LeDuc didn't run him at the point the whole night is still a mystery to us. Instead, during most of the second half, LeDuc had Casey Jacobsen bringing the ball up, and then releasing it, maybe if he felt like it, to Sanchez. Seems like a waste of a good point guard to us, but then Glendora handled Ayala pretty easily.

Casey Jacobsen: Listed at 6'-6" he actually seems bigger than that, and he sure plays bigger. He's certainly good enough to be a Pac-10 shooting guard, and possibly even play at the small forward spot. Or he could be the center at UCLA. Bad joke. Casey was the offensive spark for this team. He had so many nice layups and put backs, and just drove Ayala nuts with his outside shooting too, that it was a pleasure to watch him. He's a really big, strong player, with tremendous foot moves and he also plays like a team player, outletting the ball on the defensive rebound to get the fast break started. He had a big game, and must have scored about 30 all by himself. We had him at 19 points with 2:19 to go in the third, and he scored a whole lot more in the fourth quarter. Actually we really lost track of his stats, which was pretty stupid on our part, since the Pond has this nice big scoreboard, and we were also sitting right next to the guy putting the stats up on the board with the computer thingy that runs the board, and had a great view of the screen showing points, blocks, fouls, etc. Casey is that kind of player though: You'd rather watch him just play than keep track of stats.

The Clark Brothers: I'm sure someone can tell them apart (their mother maybe), but we couldn't. One wears number 21, and the other number 20. They are both big time players. This is going to be unfair to them individually, but they are both tremendous. There are subtle differences, but you'd have to look real hard to see them. Chris scored more, I think, and Chad is the better defender, but they were both out there on the fast breaks, laying it in, slamming and jamming.

Domenic DeGrassi: The only truly under-utilized player on the Glendora squad. Why doesn't somebody take advantage of his height??? This guy is a BIG 6'-9" (and he may really be taller) who looks a bit overweight, but is really pretty solid. He can rebound like nobody's business, although he looks like he'd have trouble slam-dunking. He played mostly in the high post though, and as a result, with the shooting guards throwing it up from well beyond the three-point line for most of the evening, Domenic did a lot of watching from the elbow as the ball kept sailing over his head toward the basket; by then, he was too far out to get many rebounds, so his height really didn't end up being that much of a factor in the game. But the few times LeDuc (or Sanchez or Jacobsen, who between them seemed to call the plays) did manage to drop the ball in to him down in the low post, it was pretty much a guaranteed two points. Pretty appropriate that Wooden was sitting across the floor, two rows up, watching this game, since the low post alternative to the UCLA trademark high post offense, was to put Kareem or Walton down low and just pound the boards, or watch their wonderful skyhooks. We're not saying that DeGrassi has the potential to be another Walton or Kareem, but he could be more of a Shaq or Patrick Ewing type down in the post if he just got the ball more. Anyway, enough of that. DeGrassi did play pretty well.

The game? Oh yeah, here's a slight recap. With 2:10 to play in the first quarter, the score was 15-4, Glendora. At the end of the first quarter it was 18-4 after Jacobsen nailed a very long 3.

In the second quarter, Ayala got going a little, but by the end of the half the score was 30-17. Ayala came out strong in the second half, but so did Glendora, and with about three minutes to play in the third quarter, the score was 48-26. By the end of the quarter, each team managed to score twice again, and it was 52-30, with Glendora leading by 22. In the fourth, Casey was at the point again, as he had been for about half the third period. Ayala was in a drought. After 4 minutes gone in the fourth period, and with only 4 minutes left on the clock, Ayala had only scored 3 points, and Glendora too, had gone cold . With only two minutes left, the score was 53-33. Ayala then put in Dolven, Unrein and May, who had been out most of the start of the fourth, and Ayala reeled off a quick couple of points to bring the score to 55-38. Then Sanchez went to work again on the seemingly hapless Ayala point guards, who are probably good in league play, but who seemed either dazed or overwhelmed by playing in such a big arena, and stole the ball three times in quick succession.

We just can't say enough about Sanchez. He plays great defense, and really gets down low to use his feet and his quick hands for the steal. In the final minute of the game, there were a lot of subs put in, guys who hadn't played much, and the score was 62-40. Ayala managed to get another three points on foul shots, and the final was 62-43. There, we did it. Now that wasn't too painful was it.

Actually it was kind of painful to watch at points. Other than the stellar play from most of the Ayala starters, and from Jack May, Ayala is a team in need of a much faster point guard, someone who can push the ball up the floor without looking like the ball is going backwards. We'd pass it off to youth, if Ayala's regular point wasn't a senior, but AT Simmons was very tentative in his play last night. Maybe it was looking at all those 6'-6" and bigger guys on the opposition, maybe it was because his guys just weren't getting open, but it wasn't pretty. He did shoot well, when he shot, but it was not often enough. He has an ok handle on the ball, but just doesn't seem to like to dribble it. He'll dependably bring the ball up, protecting it well enough, and more often than not can make the entry pass into the lanes, but only after slowing the pace and waiting for his teammates and the defense to set up. Our only advice to A.T. is that he needs to get a whole lot more aggressive in his game. Otherwise, he's a very capable point.

Jack May, Dolven, and Unrein all looked capable as well, and May, who is a tall, lanky kid, a junior who's 6'-6" and only 185 had a bunch of nice blocks, some good layups, and spent a lot of time on his back on the floor fighting for loose rebounds. He's a very aggressive player, and Gregory just needs a few more like him and he'll be on his way to the Sierra League Championship and the playoffs.

We also don't want to forget Jay Espinoza of Ayala who gets the "hustle" award. He doesn't get the "shooting" award, but he did run his butt off. And so did Michael Ahmad, Scott Giles, Jeremy Brown, GJ Stowell, Johnny Anderson, Graham Miller and a whole bunch of other players. Not a pretty game, but still not bad after all.

And just think, there was only 4 more hours of basketball left at the John R. Wooden Classic Inaugural High School Invitational.

We have no doubt that Glendora will go to the playoffs, and will go pretty deep. How far, and where Jacobsen and Sanchez will go to school next year is really the bigger question.

©Copyright SoCalHoops 1997
All rights reserved
Questions? Comments? Need Information?
Contact: jegesq@SoCalHoops.com