IIIA228.htm

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Southern Section Playoffs: Division III-A
Semifinal Results--(February 28, 1998)

So it's going to be Chaminade against Bishop Montgomery in the Division III-A finals. Here's what happened on Friday night as Cabrillo and Estancia were the latest two teams to be eliminated. The finals in this Division between the Chaminade Eagles and the Bishop Montgomery Knights, will be March 7, at the Pond of Anaheim.

Division III-A Semifinals

Game 1: Chaminade 92, Cabrillo 60

The deeper into the playoffs Chaminade gets, the easier the victories seem to be. Likewise, the deeper Cabrillo got, the tougher the games were. On Friday, Cabrillow just ran out of steam, and Chaminade was itself a steamroller, ending Cabrillo's season and sending Chaminade to the CIF Division finals.

Chaminade's starters played great, making 76% of their shots (37 for 49) in a 92-60 victory over Cabrillo in a semifinal at Simi Valley High. Fueling much of the Eagles' firepower was junior point guard Cayce Cook, who had 12 assists. Cook, who also had four steals, finished with nine points. Chaminade owned a 15-point lead at halftime, making 21 of 31 shots in the half. Senior guard Justin Beach did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 13 of his 15 points Cabrillo closed the deficit to 47-34 on a jumper by Steve Leininger early in the third quarter, but that was as close as the Conquistadores would get. With freshman center Scott Borchart scoring eight of his 14 points in the third quarter, the Eagles built a 66-44 lead. Chaminade, playing with mostly reserves in the fourth quarter, took a 90-55 lead on a short jumper by J.J. Todd. Scott Long of Chaminade finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Cabrillo's Jay Richardson, a 6-feet-7 senior center, had 20 points and Travis James added 10.

The Eagles were hot from the outset against Cabrillo (14-12), making their first six shots and 10 of 11. But no one had a hotter hand than senior forward Justin Stewart, who made all 14 of his shots and scored 28 points. Stewart's only miss was a free throw, trying to convert a three-point play to start the fourth quarter after being leveled by a defender under the basket. Stewart, who also had three steals and four blocked shots, was seven of seven in the first half and had 10 of the Eagles' 26 points in the fourth quarter.

The Conquistadores, who had beaten defending state champions Harvard-Westlake and Santa Paula to reach this game, strugled to finad any consistency. Center Jay Richardson, averaging 20 points and 13 rebounds, was frustrated by the scattering, smothering press of Chaminade's defense.

Top-seeded Chaminade (26-1), which has won 23 consecutive games, has won its three playoff games by an average margin of 34 points. Chaminade, which has only a small schools division section title in 1971 to its credit, will face Bishop Montgomery in the section title game March 7 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

Game 2: Bishop Montgomery 71, Estancia 67

Torrance Bishop Montgomery's Garrett Lee stole a pass at half court and scored with less than 10 seconds left for a 71-67 double overtime victory over Estancia in a Division III-A semifinal game Friday at Redondo Beach Redondo Union High. The game was tied 14 times. BM fell behind early, 11-4 but quickly came back with a 7-0 run in that last two minutes of the first quarter to tie it, but then pulled ahead on a three point shot by Perez at the buzzer. The game was also tied at the half, 26 all.Estancia's James Dawkins made a layup with nine seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime, 50-50. Dawkins finished with 14 points. The Knights' Devaughn Peace stole a pass and went in for a layup, but Dawkins blocked the shot to send it into the second overtime. Sam Nelson led all scorers with 34 points for Estancia, which had five players foul out in the game. Estancia finishes 19-10. Bishop Montgomery is 21-6. After losing leading scorer Brian Pruitt to fouls in the first overtime, Garrett Lee replaced him and had seven of his 11 points in the second overtime, including a steal and a breakaway dunk in the closing seconds, to help the Knights overcome Nelson's performance. Marvin Perez scored 17 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for the Knights. Tony Booker had 14 points and Erric Craven added eight points for the Knights. James Dawkins scored 14 points for Estancia, while Ryan Simpson had 9, and Brett Valbuena had another eight.