Vall 221

SoCal High School & Prep Report

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

Boy, does the reporting get thin when you get down to the smaller and smallest schools in Southern Section. We've only got the highlights for about half of these, and in at least two or three cases, we didn't even find scores reported, despite the fact that the schedule had these games being played in the first round on Friday, and we have no record of whether they were advanced or were yet to be played. Anyway, we've combined both V-AA and V-A for the sake of convenience or maybe to make it inconvenient. . . we can't tell.

In Division V-AA, the top seeds are Montclair Prep; No. 2 Chadwick; No. 3. Bishop Diego; and No. 4 Pacific Hills, and all of them won, with the exception of Pacific Hills, and for them we couldn't find any evidence that their game was even played.

In Division V-A, the smallest of the small school divisions, there were a bunch of second round games played, but interestingly, none that we could find in the Region I bracket. Overall in the Division V-A bracket, the No. 1 Seed is Rolling Hills Prep; No. 2 Laguna Blanca; No. 3. Rio Hondo Prep; and No. 4 Price. The only one we couldn't find any information on was Rolling Hills Prep, and even though the San Luis Obispo papers were reporting that there was supposed to be a game against Pacific Coast Christian from SLO, we couldn't find anything on whether the game was played yesterday or will be played on Tuesday.

Anyway, here's a look at what happened, as best as we can reconstruct it, in both Division V-AA and Division V-A:

Division V-AA

Region I

Game 1: #1 Montclair Prep 87, #8 Cate 19

Rocky Steryo made 10 of 14 shots, including seven three-point baskets, and finished with 29 points for host Montclair Prep (24-3). This game was just a wipeout for Cate, and but for Montclair's student population, they should really consider playing up a division to get some decent competition. Cate had only four players score, Dvorak with 8, Nwanyanwu with 6, Fudge with 3, and Mehta with 2. For Montclair Steryo had 5 steals to go with his 29 points, Jules Thompson had 18 points and 9 rebounds, Kevin Bentley had 13 ponts and 15 rebgounds and 5 assists. Jed Hall scored 10 points, Carlease Clark had 5 points, 9 assists and 4 steas, and Anderson scored 4 ponts, Prince 2, Lucas 2, Huss 2 and Koljan 2.

Game 2: #5 Apple Valley Christian 46, #4 Calvary Chapel 43

Another high desert matchup featuring a complete news blackout. No details just a score.

Game 3: # 3 Riverside Woodcrest Christian 71, # 6 Boys Republic 35

Jason Chandler scored 22 points as the Royals (21-4) ended the Rams' (14-8) 14-game winning streak in a V-AA Division playoff loss at Riverside. Tony Jones finished with 20 points, 15 rebounds and six steals for Boys Republic.

Game 4: # 2 Yeshiva v. #7 (winner of Mammoth vs. Bloomington Christian)

We didn't see any details nor did we find a score. It's our belief that this game will probably be played Saturday night due to the Jewish Sabbath and the prohibition of play on Friday night for Yeshiva. As soon as we find out what happened, we'll post it up.

Region II

Game 1: #1 Chadwick 66, # 8 St. Margaret's 47

No details were available

Game 2: #5 Avalon 74, #4 South Bay Lutheran 70

Senior forward Steve Tilly (10 rebounds) scored a season-high 23 points, including two free throws with 1:20 left that gave the Lancers (16-8) the lead for good, in their first-round win over the host Waves (12-11). Seniors Weston Leonhardi (22 points, 10 rebounds) and Carson Hernandez (10 points, 10 steals) also played well for Avalon, which will host No. 2-seed Chadwick (13-14) Tuesday. Point guard Mitch Marincovich dished out a season-high 15 assists.

Game 3: #3 Mary Star 66, #6 Masada 49

No details, just the score.

Game 4: #2 St. Anthony 68, #7 La Sierra 50

Again, we couldn't find anything on this one, just a score.

Region III

Game 1: # 1 Bishop Diego 75, #8 Thacher 57

An emotional pre-game ceremony and a stern halftime lecture added up to a 75-57 win Friday night for Bishop Diego High in a first-round CIF Division 5-AA basketball playoff against Thacher. Bishop retired the football and basketball jerseys of former Cardinal star Rod Shull in a ceremony before the game. Shull, a team MVP in both sports, died of a heart attack Feb. 7 at the age of 33. His No. 15 football jersey will be displayed in the Bishop weight room while his No. 24 basketball jersey will hang in the Cardinals' gym. Bishop would like to be able to hang a CIF championship banner on the same wall. The Cardinals won the Tri-Valley League championship and will take a 19-5 record to Tuesday's second round game at Pilgrim of Los Angeles. But they probably will have to play better than they did Friday night against the Toads (9-11). After hitting their first five shots to take an 11-2 lead, the Cardinals suffered through spurts of hot and cold play for the rest of the half.

Thacher chipped away at the lead, with senior Peter Holmes doing most of the damage. Holmes scored 19 of his 26 points and had five of his nine steals in the first half. The Toads cut the lead to 29-23 at one point before Rovsek and Lammers powered a 10-2 run. Rovsek scored six while Lammers had three rebounds and two assists, including one that led to a running slam by Rovsek. The Cardinals closed the third quarter with an 8-0 burst to lead 61-44 and were able to clear their bench midway into the final period. Lammers finished with another strong all-around game - 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. The 6-foot-2 senior has scored 107 points in his last four games. Rovsek and Jaime Sanchez added 13 points while Sam Adcock added six points and nine rebounds. Rovsek tweaked his ankle slightly near the end of the game but said he was fine afterward. Guard Tony Ortiz was held out with a slight ankle sprain but also should be ready for Pilgrim.

Game 2: # 5 Pilgrim 59, #4 Milken Community 52

No details, just a score.

Game 3: # 3 Valley Torah High 64, #6 Santa Maria Valley Christian 56

This game was actually played on Thursday, but we'll repeat the details here for the sake of continuity and convenience. Edward Gerov scored 17 points and Matt Rosenblatt had 15 for Valley Torah High, which pulled off the biggest basketball victory in the school's 23-year history, upsetting Santa Maria Valley Christian, 64-56, in a Division V-AA first-round playoff game Thursday night at Valley Christian. It was the first basketball playoff victory for the Wolfpack (18-4).

Game 4: # 2 Santa Clara 73, # 7 Ribet Academy 62

B.J. Ward scored 26 points and Ryan McGill added 20 for host Santa Clara (11-12). Santa Clara will advance to play Valley Torah in the second round on Tuesday.

Region IV

Game 1: #8 Glendale Adventist at #1 Pacific Hills (14-8)

Boy, we couldn't even get a score on this one. We'll keep trying.

Game 2: #4 Boron 62, #5 Mesa Grande 60

No details were available.

Game 3: #3 Ambassador Christian 67, #6 Western Christian 65

Michael Lombard had 16 rebounds including two crucial boards toward the end of the game which kept Ambassador Christian on top of Western Christian. Lombard also had 18 points in the game. Chris Como led all scorers with 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Dawgs.

Game 4: #2 Pasadena Poly 61, #7 Whitewater 37

Matt Lawler, Koko Archibong and Ryan Haden keyed a 23-4 third-quarter run that helped the Panthers (15-9) advance to Tuesday's second round. Lawler scored 10 of his game high 18 points and Archibong had 11 of his 15 during the decisive run. The Panthers trailed 28-23 before going on a four-minue scoring binge. Haden added foru of his six assists during that stretch. Archibong added nine rebounds to his point total, while Haden hit for 12 points. Matt Easterlin added 10 points.

Division V-A

Second Round Games:

Region I

Game 1: Top Seeded Rolling Hills Prep had a bye in the first round, but will play Pacific Coast Christian in the second round.

Game 2: Gateway Christian played Mesrobian in the first round, and Mesrobian will play Bethel Christian in the second round scheduled for 2/24.

Region II

Game 1: #1 Laguna Blanca 62, #4 Cuyama Valley 46

The Owls pulled away from visiting Cuyama Valley in the fourth quarter of the CIF Division 5-A opener. Three straight steals by Garrett Wilson helped the Owls break lose. Wilson scored 10 points. David Cochran led the Laguna Blanca (19-4) with 26 points. He scored most of his point off drives to the basket. Chad Lewis also played a solid game, scoring 10 points and dishing off 15 assists. Cuyama Valley finishes the year at 15-10. Cuyama scoring was Batiste 4, Bosma 3, Furstenfeld 7, Gomez 13, S. Dobanton 7, R. Dobanton 8, and Villalobos 4. Laguna Blanca scorers were Wilson 10, Lewis 10, Tamas 4, Cochran 26, Niehaus 4, Ferguson 1, and Keith 7.

Game 2: #2 Immanuel Christian 54, #3 Shandon 48

Again, no details at all, just a line score.

Region III

Game 1: #1 Rio Hondo Prep 80, #4 Victor Valley Christian 56

Travis Ratliff scored 13 and Brad Thronson had 12 in a losing effort for Valley Christian which concluded its season with a record of 12-12. Rio Hondo had four players in double figures: Josh Coulter with 19, Jay Creager with 18, Jacob Bloke with 14, and Seth Dinius with 12. Others scoring were Jason Ramos with 9, Josh Gurry with 4, Robert Najar with 4. Creager had three three-pointers, while Blake had 2.

Game 2: #3 Santa Clarita Christian 69, #2 Southlands Christian 45

No details, just the score.

Region IV

Game 1: #1 Price 58, #4 Desert Christian 38

Sophomore Othell Johnson had 19 points and Mychal Lynch added 16 points and seven assists as 20-3 Price defeated Desert Christian to advance to the second round in Division V-A. Johnson, a transfer to Price after his previous school closed also had 16 rebounds.

Game 2: #2 Orangewood 88, #4 Baptist Christian Hemet 65

At Garden Grove, Baptist Christian got off to a slow start, had a run and then got blown out in the first round of the CIF Division 5AA playoffs Saturday. Orangewood outscored the visiting Warriors 24-10 in the fourth quarter to blow open the game and cruise to an impressive win. The Warriors got 18 points from senior Barry Meisel and 16 from Justin Saddler, who chipped in with 11 rebounds. Orangewood held a 47-30 lead at halftime but Baptist Christian went on a 12-0 run to start the third quarter, but that was as close as the Warriors would get. Baptist Christian finishes the season with a 14-7 record.