IIA227.htm

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Southern Section Playoffs: Tonight's
Division II-A Games--(February 27, 1998)

These are quarterfinal matchups, and as the name implies, there will be four games in the Division, one in each Region. All will get started at 7:30 pm, in about an hour and a half from when we're posting this, so if you're going to get to one, go start the car and get moving, otherwise you'll have trouble finding a seat.

Division II-A Quarterfinals

Region I--Dominguez v. Sonora at Compton City College

The teams met in the semifinals a year ago and it wasn't close. Dominguez blew away Sonora, 73-44, on its way to a second consecutive CIF Division II state title. Sonora's shot at redemption is led by guard Jeff Berokoff, who is averaging 25 points per outing. In Tuesday's 61-47 second round win over Servite, though, it was fellow guard Greg Vecchione scoring 18 points to lead the way. The 22-4 Raiders, however, need to play a flawless game to knock off the state's top-ranked team. Dominguez (22-4) only led Whittier, 35-33, at halftime in the second round, but pulled away for an 82-54 win.

Region II--Pacifica v. Redondo Union

Pacifica, which plays in the Garden Grove League, and which was the No. 2 seeded team in Region II, got to this game by beating Moorpark on Tuesday 69-67. Pacifica beat Valencia (Orange League) prior to that, and in both games, Pacifica's Adam Rachlin has been a major factor, as has Jason Simpson who scored 15 points for Pacifica, on Tuesday. Shawn Corkery, who led all scorers with 32 points, grabbed the rebound, but missed the tip-in. Redondo Union got to this game by beating Bishop Amat on Tuesday 74-59, and in that game Marcus Moore (Jr. PG) led all scorers with 22 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals. Redondo also features one of the best Sophopmore centers in all of SoCal, Andrew Zahn (6'-9" So. C), who had 16 points, 10 boards & 4 blocks on Tuesday. Redondo also features Tyler Hoffman a 6'-1' shooting guard. Look for Pacific to give Redondo some trouble, but for the No. 2 overall Division Seed, and the No. 1 Regional Seed, we'd have to go with the Seahawks in this one barring a major upset.

Region III--Cathedral City v. Muir at La Quinta

Think of Cathedral City, and think Caleb Gervin, nephew of the "Iceman" George Gervin. He's a 6'-1" senior point guard, and one of the best around. Likewise, Muir features some great guards too, and Joe Bakhoum is probably the biggest and most consistent scoring threat for Muir. For CC, Lavouse Long, and Nathan Davenport also are potent players. Muir advanced to this game by beating Perris 67-64 on Tuesday, and if anyone had asked whether we thought that would happen we'd have said they were crazy. But John Parker made two clutch free throws for Muir with only 19 seconds to play for the win, and he had a great game. We like both teams, but would have to go with Cathedral City on this one.

Region IV--Burbank Burroughs v. Dos Pueblos at Santa Barbara

Shantay Legans tells us he's betting that this will be a close game. So what else is new? Dos Pueblos is always a tough team to beat in a tight game, and almost every game that we've written about this season has been a tight game for Dos Pueblos, and it's a wonder that Coach Phil Sherman still has any hair left to pull out when things get tough. Dos Pueblos is led by Shantay Legans, and if he has anything to say about the outcome tonight, Dos Pueblos is not going to lose. And if Burbank finds itself within one or two points, it better make its free throws down the stretch. Newbury Park learned that in a 48-47 loss to Dos Pueblos in a second-round game of the Division II-A playoffs on Tuesday night and so did Oxnard in a 78-76 Channel League loss last month. Dos Pueblos (24-4), which will play Burroughs (19-9) in a quarterfinal at Santa Barbara High tonight, won both games after an opposing player failed to make two free throws in the final seconds. Mike Meru of Newbury Park made one of two free throws with 10 seconds left in Tuesday's game to break a 46-46 tie, but sophomore Uthman Ray sank a 10-footer with four seconds left to give Dos Pueblos the victory. Oxnard had a 76-75 lead over Dos Pueblos with five seconds left in last month's game, but the Chargers' Ryan Holbrook made a three-pointer at the buzzer after the Yellowjackets' Damian Tafoya missed two free throws. The Indians, led by 6'-2" senior Jeremy Cartee and 6'-3" junior Kevin Krose, have won five consecutive games and eight of nine after losing their first three league games. They defeated Temple City, 68-63, in the first round of the playoffs and beat No. 4-seeded and previously undefeated Paso Robles, 63-59, in the second. Paso Robles (24-1) and No. 5-seeded Newbury Park (24-5) were expected to meet in the quarterfinals, but when Dos Pueblos upset Newbury Park, 48-47, it set the stage for tonight's game in Santa Barbara.