jday213.htm

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Jason Day: Late (Very Late) Westchester v. LA Report--(February 13, 1998)

This one was played this last week, and even though it's a bit late, the game was well-worth the report. Many thought that LA would actually be able to challenge Westchester this season. Well, think again. In City Section at least, it doesn't look like there's anyone, including Crenshaw, who will really challenge Bland, Bluthenthal et. al. for a City Title, although Washington, with its surprising upset of Crenshaw this past week may actually be in a position to do it. Anyway, here's Jason's late report on the Westchester-LA High game. And please don't be discouraged by the score. It was, as you'll see, a much better game than the score would indicate.

LATE REPORT – WESTCHESTER BREEZES
AGAINST L.A. HIGH 108-57

by Jason Day
Exclusive to SoCalHoops

I know this is late, and I was just gonna shine it, but it was really a good game (at least in the first half) despite the lopsided finish.

This one was at Westchester and was a rematch of the January 30^th contest at L.A. High. You may remember that Westchester won that one by 17 despite a huge game (41 points) by L.A. senior guard, Deon "Popeye" Green. L.A. looked as if they might have a shot at an upset in this one, but Westchester had other ideas.

The Comets opened with their patented 2-2-1 press and it yielded dividends right away, forcing L.A. to call a time out in the middle of the 1^st quarter down 11-4. L.A. came out of the TO with some tough man-to-man D of their own and still were within 6 at the end of the quarter, 23-15 Westchester.

Early in the second it was clear that the refs were going to pretty much let the kids play and keep the whistles to a minimum. This fact combined with the aggressive attacking defense that both teams played made for a frenetic pace.

Westchester’s big gun, David Bluthenthal (6'-10" Sr. PF), was right on target, taking nice passes from the guards and wings for slams, or getting offensive boards for putbacks. He had 16 points in the game, all in the first half, and added 5 boards and 3 steals. As usual, Albert Miller, SR G/F, made a big contribution, hitting for 10 in the half and grabbing 5 boards and a steal.

Bluthenthal and Miller just about had their way on the boards even though L.A. senior forward, Devin Hicks, and fellow frontcourt mate, senior Carey Miller put up a battle under the hoop. When L.A. went to the bench and brought in junior big man (but thin) Nick Dodson, their rebounding improved almost immediately. Hicks had 7 boards in the half, Miller had 3, and Dodson chipped in 6, with a block and an assist.

L.A. probably has the most prolific 3 pt. shooting duo in SoCal, certainly in the City, in Green and sophomore Leroy Dawson. They have had games where both hit for 30 or more in the same game.

It was Dawson trying to get hot from the 3 pt. line in this one, while Deon played around the hoop more and led or finished fast breaks. But Dawson could only manage to drop one 3 because he got very few uncontested looks. In fact, he was fouled twice behind the arch and sent to the line for freebies. He had 14 for the half (and ultimately the game) and 7 of those were from the line. Hicks was the only other player to finish close to double figures for the game with 9 pts. So it was up to Green to score the points. And score he did. In the first half. He had 15 at the break (20 for the game) and L.A. was within eleven, 50-39 Westchester.

The second half started with Westchester turning up the defensive pressure and within 5 minutes this game was over. The Comets were up by 19 and L.A. was beginning to fold. The tenacious Westchester trapping defense not only took the ball out of L.A.’s hands, it seemed to take the fight out of them. They quit playing defense and could only muster token resistance. Westchester led by more than thirty at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter was playtime for both benches. And the Comet bench was having most of the fun. As Comet coach, Ed Azzam, pulled the main guns-- (i.e, SR, Tony Bland with 16 pts., 4 boards, 6 assists, 3 steals, and a block, Miller with 16 pts. 9 boards, 3 steals, 2 assists, Brandon Granville with 16 pts. (they planned this), 4 assists, 2 steals, 4-5 from 3pt. range, C.J. Williams (7 pts); Chris Osborne (6pts., 4 blocks, 3 rebounds)--the heirs apparent took the floor and continued the roll.

Sophomore future star, Lou Wright, showed a lot of versatility hitting one of his beautiful rainbow threes, then taking two defenders to the rack off the dribble. He finished with 11 pts., 2 boards. SR, Eric Knight, played some great D, and hit for 9 pts. and a couple of steals, and sophomore J.V. starter, Terrence Lawson got to show his potential in the last 2 minutes or so. He made the best of his time by grabbing 2 boards, blocking two shots, grabbing a steal, and hitting for 2 pts. Not bad. I’ve seen some of his J.V. games, and the kid’s gonna be a varsity standout. He’s about 6’-4" – 6’-5" and growing, has great ups, and is a natural shot blocker. He’s also a real nice young man.

Speaking of which, I can’t leave out JR PF, MacKenzie Dent. He’s always on my case to write something about him and I’ve been telling him to give me something to write about. Well he contributed 5 boards, an assist, and 2 points on a pretty turnaround jumper. So there Mac, you did it, I wrote it. We cool.

Westchester hosts Venice for the last regular season game tonight, and L.A. hosts a Fairfax team that is still in the hunt too and will come in ready.

I think I’ll take in the Fairfax / L.A. game. I want to see if L.A. can rebound from this drubbing and come out strong against an undermanned but very well coached and disciplined Lion team. We’ll let you know how it turned out.

See ya later.

Jason Day

elgee333@pacbell.net