II-AA 221

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Southern Section Playoffs: All The Division
II-AA Scores & Highlights--(February 21, 1998)

We've delayed putting this up as long as we possibly could so that we'd have most, if not all of the scores and highlights. We managed to get all of the scores and most of the highlights, except the game played between Antelope Valley and Whittier in Whittier.

So here's what happened last night in I-A Southern Section Playoff action. The #'s refer only to a teams seeding within it's own Regional Bracket within the Division. Overall in the Division II-AA bracket, the No. 1 Seed is Compton; No. 2 Santa Margarita; No. 3. Inglewood; and No. 4 Brea Olinda, and all of the top seeds won their games, and most of the other higher rated teams in each Region also won, with the exception of Mira Costa which lost to San Marcos. Here's a look, region by region, at each game in order according to the bracketing:

Region I

Game 1: #1 Compton 62, #4 Canyon 40

The visiting Comanches could not handle the speed and aggressive man-to-man Compton defense and lost to the top-seeded team in the division. Compton, which won the Moore League Co-Championship with Long Beach Poly, never trailed. Canyon's season ends at 19-9. The Comanches discovered Compton's team speed began with Moore, who fired enough shots to keep the Comanches' 1-2-2 press and zone off Hamilton, and his shooting also helped the rest of the Compton offense. Canyon struggled all night for clear looks at the basket and didn't make many. The Comanches shot 35% for the game (17 of 49) and made only three of 17 from three-point range. Ali Goodman led Canyon with 12 points. Gaulden had nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Compton, looking to win its first CIF Southern Section title in 29 years, received a game-high 22 points from senior center David Hamilton in a 64-40 victory over visiting Anaheim Canyon Friday night. The Tarbabes (24-5) will face Whittier California (22-3) in a quarterfinal Tuesday night at a site to be determined. The Condors defeated Antelope Valley, 66-50, in their playoff opener Friday. Hamilton, who also had 12 rebounds and blocked two shots, scored 14 of his points in the second half despite missing four minutes with a cut lip. He clearly won his matchup with Comanches' standout center Andrew Gaulden, a 6-foot-9 New Mexico signee, who had only nine points. Junior shooting guard Tito Maddox had 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals for Compton, which collected 16 steals and forced 25 turnovers. Senior point guard Deandre Moore added 10 points and eight assists and senior forward Ray Ross came off the bench to add 10 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

Game 2: #2 Whittier California 66, #3 Antelope Valley 50

The Antelopes had their season ended by Whittier. No other details were available. California advances to the second round and will play Compton on Tuesday.

Region II

Game 1: #1 Santa Margarita 68, #4 Rancho Verde 47

Craig Rice scored 13 points, including four of six from the three-point line, to lead second-seeded Santa Margarita (25-2). Jake Rohe also scored 13 points and Dekker McKeever scored 12 and Ryan Forehan-Kelly added 11. T.J. Williams added 10 points and eight assists for the Eagles, who will face Katella on Tuesday.

Game 2: #2 Katella 71, #3 Villa Park 58

Katella Coach Tom Danley has said all season that streaky swingman Robert Abercrombie can shoot the Knights in or out of a basketball game. Friday night, Abercrombie did both. He missed his first seven shots and Katella fell behind visiting Villa Park by four at the end of the first quarter. Then Abercrombie made eight of his next nine shots and the Knights were on their way to a 71-58 victory in the first round of the Southern Section Division II-AA boys' basketball playoffs. Abercrombie finished with a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds. Matt Tisthammer chipped in 15 points and tough defense on Alex Will, the county's leading three-point shooter. Center Don Carey, also a defensive standout, had 10 points. Katella (23-4) advanced to play second-seeded Santa Margarita (25-2), a 68-47 victor over Moreno Valley Rancho Verde. Abercrombie picked up his third foul 1 minute 10 seconds into the second quarter. Then he went on a scoring streak. He tied the score, 12-12, on back to back jumpers. After Brandon Jordan made two free throws, Abercrombie scored two more baskets to cap a 10-0 run. Villa Park never recovered. The Knights slowly pulled away and when Abercrombie made a fall-away jumper and free throw late in the third quarter, Katella led, 54-40. Katella also played good defense, with Tisthammer limiting Will, a 52.2% three-point shooter, to two of nine three-point shots. The Knights also used the double-team of Jordan and Carey against Villa Park center Alan Verzani. Verzani, who averaged 19.3 points in leading Villa Park to its third consecutive Century League title, rarely touched the ball in the first half and finished with 14 points, most of them in the final quarter. Will scored 13 points and Chris Hillman and Andy Olsen each had 11.

Region III

Game 1: #1 Inglewood 69, #4 Tustin 61

Patrick Yapjoco scored 16 points and Kenny Crabb added 14 for visiting Tustin (20-8). Bradley Jackson scored a game-high 20 points for third-seeded Inglewood (20-5). Inglewood advances and will play Troy in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Game 2: #2 Troy 61, #3 Laguna Hills 42

Troy's pressure defense did the trick as the Warriors forced 25 Laguna Hills turnovers. Mike Graves and Jerry Inzunza combined for 11 steals for Troy (21-4). Inzunza had 25 points to lead the Warriors. Scott Pierson had 19 points for Laguna Hills (21-6). Ross Pierson scored 19 for Laguna Hills, who wond the Pacific Coast League. Troy was the Co-Champion of the Freeway league with Sonora. Troy plays Inglewood Tuesday; by the time you read this, a coin flip will have determined where the game will be played. We'll have more on that later.

Region IV

Game 1: #1 Brea Olinda 85, #4 Hemet 76

Brea Olinda held off a late offensive charge by Hemet despite giving up 46 points to Moises Alvarez, who was 17 of 33 from the field. Chris McMillian scored 25 points and Kyle Dodd added 15 to lead Brea Olinda (23-4). The Wildcats will play San Marcos in the second round Tuesday. Reid Carlson of Brea also scored 13 and Rasuli Webster had 11. Brea plays San Marcos in Tuesdays quarterfinal game and San Marcos will be designated the home team and will select an alternate site for the game.

Game 2: #3 San Marcos 62, #2 Mira Costa 47

Brook Billings scored nine of his game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter as the Royals broke open a close game to defeat the fifth-ranked Mustangs in a CIF 2-AA playoff opener. San Marcos led just 37-35 before exploding for 25 points in the final period, sinking 12 of 14 free throws. Brook Billings (he of the low-blow punch) Randy Moharram, Sonny Oden and Jordan McOwen all played well. Oden contributed 14 points and five assists. San Marcos trailed 8-1 shortly after the opening tip. Mira Costa initially played well, and SM was tentative and nervous, but then quickly outscored Mira Costa 13-6 to tie the game. The game stayed close until the final period, with the Royals leading just 22-19 at halftime. Billings, a 6-foot-5 senior, this time avoided hitting anyone, and pulled down nine rebounds. McOwen had seven to go with 10 points. Moharram also had 10 points while Art Gutierrez led San Marcos with six assists. The win puts the Royals into the CIF 2-AA quarterfinals against fourth-ranked Brea Olinda, which beat Hemet 85-76. The game will be played Tuesday at an alternate site in the Santa Barbara area. San Marcos scorers were Moharram 10, Gutierrez 8, Billings 18, Oden 14, McOwen 10, and Nance 2. For Mira Costa the scoring was by Elling with 9, Fejeran 3, Huggins 5, Darr 6, Ulibarri 6, Wagendrenner 2, Boyd 11, and Hove with 5.