IIAA225.

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Southern Section Playoffs: Division I-A
Second Round--(February 25, 1998)

Here are the scores and highlights for the second round games in Division I-A played last night. Glendora beat Murietta Valley; Valencia beat Santa Barbara, and that should be a great quarterfinal in Region I. In Region II, Pacific will face off against surprising Canyon, which defeated Hart last night in a shocking upset (at least shocking for those who didn't believe a team which won only 2 out of 10 games in league should even be in the playoffs). In Region III, Arlington will face off against "beatable" Mater Dei, who is looking more and more unbeatable as the season progresses towards the finals. In Region IV, Garey will face J.W. North.

Region I

Game 1: Glendora 77, Murietta Valley 44

It was another offensive explosion for Casey Jacobsen, who outscored the Nighthawks (23-5) single-handedly with a career high 55 points - 49 after the first quarter. Jacobsen also led the Tartans (27-1)in rebounds with nine while teammate Chris Clark had eight. Glendora will face Valencia Friday in the quarterfinals at an alternate site.

Game 2: Valencia 56, Santa Barbara 51

Jerrohn Jordan and Royce Minor each scored 12 points, and the Vikings (22-6) rallied from a four-point deficit in the fourth quarter in a second-round game at Santa Barbara. Minor sank a three-point basket to put Valencia ahead for good, 48-46, and the Vikings closed out the game with a 17-8 run. Valencia, the No. 3 seed in Region 1 and the top finisher in the Foothill League, improves to 21-6 on the season and advances to Friday's quarterfinal game. The second-seeded Dons finish at 16-11. J.R. Allen, the Dons' lone starting senior, had 13 points and 10 rebounds in his final high school game. Valencia stunned the Dons in the first quarter with its quickness and led 19-12 after the first eight minutes. Valencia came out fast and SB just couldn't cover them man-to-man, so they switched to a zone, and even though that seemed to work, it really was too late. Santa Barbara tried to shake off their first-quarter tightness, and went on an 8-0 scoring run to tie the game at 23 on Williams' 3-pointer off a no look pass from Sean Kelley. The Dons took their first lead of the game, 24-23, when Williams hit a free throw with 3:21 left in the first half. The Vikings scored only six in the second quarter and the Dons were on top 28-25 going into the locker room. Santa Barbara's biggest lead, 37-27, came in the third quarter following a 9-0 run with 4:52 remaining. Valencia's Royce Minor hit a trey on the Viking's next possession and Eskias McDaniels tipped two in to close the gap to three. The two teams were tied at 39 going into the fourth quarter. The Dons made two lay-ups to lead 43-39 with 6:14 left, but the Vikings dominated on the boards, took advantage of two Don turnovers and regained the lead, 48-46, on a 3-pointer by Minor and never trailed again.

The final scoring for Valencia was Minor with 12, Leon 11, Jordan 12, McDaniels 11, Sison 2, White 6, and Pawlak with 2. Santa Barbara's scoring was Christ with 5, Allen 13, Williams 14, Freeman 10, Burke 5, and Kelley 4. Valencia had four three-pointers during the game: Minor had 2, and Leon and McDaniels one each; Santa Barbara had five: Williams with 3, and Christ and Burke with one apiece.

Region II

Game 1: Pacific 88, Edison 78

Dan Nehrig had 22 points and 15 rebounds and Zack Kilian added 15 points for the host Chargers (15-10). The visiting Pirates forced the Chargers into foul trouble late in the fourth quarter to help preserve the victory.

Game 2: Canyon 60, Hart 59

Seven three pointers by Hart's J.T. Stott's weren't enough as Canyon pulled off the second major upset of its surprising playoff run. And in the playoffs, league play means nothing, especially if you are first place Hart or last place Canyon, both from the Foothill League. Canyon broke out to a 19-point lead in the second quarter and beat back Hart's J.T. Stotts in a shocker at Canyon High. Canyon (12-16), which won just two of 10 games in the Foothill League and surprised many by getting a playoff berth, proved it belonged in the playoffs. The Cowboys also upset Loyola in the first round. Hart (18-10), the LA Times No. 9-ranked team in the Valley North LA region, never led, and managed to tie it only twice in the first quarter. Stotts' three-point shot got Hart to within 56-54 with 28 seconds left. Bryson responded with two free throws nine seconds later. But Stotts, who scored 17 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, wasn't finished. He scored on a driving layup with 12 seconds left to pull Hart to within 58-56. Canyon's Jacyn Ezell was fouled intentionally on the inbounds pass and made two free throws. With three seconds left, Stotts hit his seventh three-pointer. Hart had no timeouts remaining so the Cowboys just let the clock run out without inbounding the ball. Time expired and Canyon had won. Even though their record was only 2-10, the Cowboys weren't that bad after all, losing six of eight games in league play by less than 10 points. Canyon, which made 14 of 28 shots in the first half and led, 34-21, at halftime, used an 18-0 run to claim a 26-8 lead with 5:07 left in the second quarter. Hart, which made eight of 30 shots in the first half, went without a point in the final 3:35 of the first quarter and the first 3:10 of the second. Jimmy Cox scored 14 points for Canyon and Mike Reardon added 13. Hart had little production from three starters. Jerry Owens had one point, while David Neill and Greg Pitzer were shut out. Canyon will play Pacific in a quarterfinal game Friday.

Region III

Game 1: Arlington 73, North Torrance 57

Another game where we were unable to get details early. We're still trying and will post them later.

Game 2: Mater Dei 70, San Clemente 57

Steve Scoggin scored 17 points for the visiting Monarchs (20-7), who will play the Riverside Arlington, a 73-57 winner over North Torrance. Semaj Johnson scored 24 points for San Clemente (13-12). Mater Dei continued its dominance over San Clemente on Tuesday night, defeating the Tritons for the fourth time this season at San Clemente High. The Monarchs (20-7), winners of eight consecutive games, advance to Friday's quarterfinals against Arlington of Riverside, which defeated North Torrance, 73-57. San Clemente ends the season 13-14. According to Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight, his Monarchs are peaking at the right time. "This is the best we've played all year," he told the Orange County Register "I'm really proud of the kids. A lot of people counted us out when we were 3-3 in league." Mater Dei, six-time defending CIF champion, broke open a close game in the third quarter thanks to the torrid shooting of Steve Scoggin and Derrick Mansell. The two guards finished with 17 points each and combined for three three-pointers and 14 points in the period, as Mater Dei outscored the Tritons, 22-13, to take 52-36 lead into the fourth. The Monarchs put the game away on the free throw line, burying 10-of-12 free throws in the quarter. They were 17-of-19 in the second half and 21-of-24 in the game. San Clemente struggled early, falling behind 11-2 in the first quarter. But the Tritons charged back with a 17-6 run, taking a 19-17 lead on a Semaj Johnson jump shot with 6:23 left in the second. It was all Mater Dei from there as the Monarchs responded with a 10-0 run. The Tritons never got closer than four points the rest of the way. Johnson paced the Tritons with 24 points, while Mitch Pierce added 14 and Brian George had nine.

Region IV

Game 1: Garey 65, Cajon 63

Trey Cobb scored a game-high 25 points and Josh Long added 20 points including a game-winning six-foot bank shot as time expired to give the Vikings an upset of the No. 4 seed in the second round of the CIF Division 1A playoffs. Cajon had tied the score 63-63 on a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left before Long's heroics. Cobb added 15 rebounds and Darvin Means had 14 rebounds. Garey advances to play Riverside J.W. North in the quarterfinals Thursday at an alternate site to be determined by a coin flip.

Game 2: J.W. North 62, Pasadena 56 (OT)

Pasadena High School basketball coach Tim Tucker stressed that for a team to win the CIF Southern Section playoffs, it's important to do well from the free throw line. The Pasadena Bulldogs did not do well. In fact they just missed a ton of shots. The Bulldogs' Brooke Weing, who as 6 of 12 from the line, went to the stripe again with 3:23 to play in overtime and missed both shots. Jon Wilburn went to the line twice and also missed three out of four. In contrast the Huskies did much better from the line, and also outrebounded Pasadena. Despite the loss, the Bulldogs got a strong performance from George DeJohnette who led the team with 17 points, and Ewing who had 10 points and nine rebounds. Kevin Rechard also had 10 points for Pasadena, and pulled down eight rebounds. The Bulldogs controlled the game in the first half, and then took a 21-19 lead at the end of the half. The game was tied 38-38 going into the fourth quarter after North's Raji Burnett hit a three pointer at the end of the third quarter. With 38 seconds left in regulation, the Bulldogs ad a 51-49 lead. The Huskies threw up and North's James Taylor got the rebound an dhit the shot, tying the game 51-51 to send the game into overtime.