knights recap

SoCal High School & Prep Report

AAU News: Further Updates On
The Northridge Knights--(February 1, 1998)

We last featured the Northridge Knights, a group of 14's (8th graders) on January 18, 1998 when we featured an article about some scoring records they've been setting, including scoring 110 points in a game. As we noted, in their first three games in Valley Conference this year (as of January 18), they were averaging 90 points per game.

After 7 games in this conference, the Knights are now 7-0, and their average margin of victory is 40 points per game, and they've outscored their opponents 584 to 300. Their scoring average has only dropped 7 points, and they're still averaging 83.42 points per game. Not bad for a bunch of kids.

So here's what's happened since January 18:

Game 4: Knights 69, San Fernando Cavs 65
Game 5: Knights 86, Pasadena Wildcats 27
Game 6: Knights 93, Glendale Panthers 49
Game 7: Knights 80, East Valley Trojans 53

Here's how it happened.

Game 4: The Knights managed a victory over the Valley Conference League's most successful team, the San Fernando Cavs, beating them 69 to 64 on their home court before a seemingly hostile crowd, in a very intense and closely fought game, with "interesting" calls from the officials.

The high points of this game occurred in the first quarter and in the third quarter. In the first quarter, after the Cavs scored the first 4 points in the game, the Knights scored the next 10, and at the end of the first it looked like it would be a tight game, with the Knight's leading 15-14. And in the third, with Dino Wilburn sitting out due to foul trouble (4 fouls in the first two quarters) the Knights went on a 24-0 scoring run to lead by as many as 25 points, but the Cavs fought back. Interestingly, had Valley Conference rules permitted the Knights to continue to trap and press after stretching the lead beyond 20 points, it's doubtful that the momentum could have shifted back as it did after Knight's center Harrison Schaen was called for his 5th personal in the waning moments of the third quarter. But under the rules of the league, the Knights were prohibited from continuing to press or play any backcourt defense once the lead got beyond 15 points, and this allowed the Cavs, more than anything, to avoid a complete blowout, and to actually make it an interesting game at the finish.

We've told you about some of these players before, but let's do it again. The Knights team features:

David Gale (5'-9" 8th Gr. SG/PG, Buckley School)
Matt Llewellyn (5'-11" 8th Gr. SG/SF, Campbell Hall)
Charlie Kranzdorf (6'-0" 8th Gr. F, Montclair Prep)
Duwan Rice (5'-4" 8th Gr. PG/SG/ Pasadena)
Harrison Schaen (6'-6" 8th Gr. C/PF, Sierra Canyon)
Aaron Stein (5'-9" 8th Gr. SG/SF, Buckley School)
Chris Tillman (6'-4" 8th Gr. PF/C, Home School)
Brian Trump (5'-10" 8th Gr. PF, A.E. Wright Middle School)
Craig Weinstein (5'-10" 8th Gr. PG/SG, Milken Community School)
Dino Wilburn (6'-0" 8th Gr. PF, Pasadena)
Johnathon Williams (6'-0" 8th Gr. Rosemead)

This is a fine group of players, most of whom could start for many high school varsity teams now, and some will get a chance next year as they all enter 9th grade. But that's to come, and this is now. Keep an eye on these kids though, since they'll be getting some attention in years to come.

In the Cavs game, played January 24, 1998, the Knights had fairly even scoring from their inside and outside shooters. Matt Lewellyn and David Gale lit it up from outside, both hitting on two three-pointers each; Lewellyn hit for 10 points, Gale for 8. Point guard Craig Weinstein led the team in overall scoring with 12 points, including a three pointer, while Chris Tillman also topped other scorers with 12. Dino Wilbur, a tenacious, yet silky smooth player who can drive and finish, hit for 8 points, including 6 in the fourth quarter. Harrison Schaen, the Knight's big man, only hit for six points, two in each of the first three quarters before being fouled out on what were some questionable and controversial calls. Harrison makes a ready target for the refs, as he literally towered over everyone, and at 6'-6" and not even yet 13 yrs. old, he's sure to get even bigger (his dad is about 6'-7" and his mother is over 6'-0" too.) He wears a size 16 shoe already, but even so is very agile. The interesting thing about Harrison is that the better the team is that he plays with, the better he plays. On his school team at Sierra Canyon, he's really the only ball handler, and either has to play the high post, or even the point, and he's clearly out of his element. But put him on a team with good guard play, and he just flourishes, using his size to great advantage. He had 9 blocked shots, and 17 rebounds in the game before fouling out. Brian Trump managed to also hit for a very important three during a 24-0 scoring run by the Knights in the third quarter, which just about blew the game wide open, and he also played some great inside defense.

Duwan Rice only managed to hit for two from the line, but also ably ran the point when Weinstein was out of the lineup during the second 4 minutes of each quarter, as the two points alternated duties evenly to keep the team fresh. Charlie Kranzdorf managed to hit for 5, while also playing great help defense, including a reverse layup that is fast becoming his favorite shot (much to the chagrin of his coaches). Aaron Stein also hit a three, while getting a couple of important blocks and three steals in the third period, and Johnathon Williams also scored three points in addition to his fine defensive effort, while managing to stay out of foul trouble.

Game 5: Knights v. Wildcats

After the Cavs game, the Knights had a home game on the 26th of January, at 8:00 pm. at Sherman Oaks CES. Due to the late start of the game, and the fact that many of the other players were studying for final exams, the Knights only had 6 players in attendance: David Gale, Brian Trump, Aaron Stein, Chris Tillman, Craig Weinstein and Charlie Kranzdorf. The Knights played the "Wildcats" a team from the Pasadena area, and even without most of their taller, bigger players, in fact a team made up of mostly guards and small forwards, the Knights still managed to win the game 88-27. Weinstein was again the high scorer with 22 points, including two threes; Tillman was the next high scorer with 15, including an amazing three-point shot from way beyond the arc, which was attempted as the next to the last shot in the game, really on a dare from the coaches just to see if he could hit it. Well he did, and it was money all the way. David Gale scored 14 from inside and outside, as did Charlie Kranzdorf who also had 14 points. Brian Trump hit for 13 points, while again also hitting the floor on some very rough defensive plays, and Aaron Stein had 12 points in his usual smooth and effortlessly quiet way.

So, the Knights were back on track with their high scoring act.

Game 6: Knights v. Glendale Panthers, at their home court, Glendale High School.

Now this was an interesting game, for a lot of reasons. Harrison Schaen, the Knights' young "tower" at 6'-6" and 12 years was out, as was Aaron Stein, who is a usually stellar outside shooter; both were reportedly ill. But not to worry, as the rest of the Knights were in attendance.

So too were the Glendale Panthers. The Panthers are a team which has obviously been around for quite a while, and they pride themselves on their program and the team concept. They look good in their striking blue and gold uniforms, and all the Panther coaches had "team" apparel, including jackets, shirts, hats, and other Panther paraphernalia. Contrast this to the Knights, who wear simply black and white reversible jerseys and black nylon shorts, and their coaches who only have white collared polo shirts which say "Knights Coach" and a small logo. Pretty humble.

Even before the game started, things got a bit interesting. As the game before the scheduled contest finished up, players filed off the court, and the Knights and Panthers took the court for their warm-ups. The Knights began to warm up on one side of the court, and so the Knights coaches went to the opposite side bench (as is the custom, so that in the second half, each team is playing offense nearest it's own bench). One of the Knight's coaches was met by the Panther's head coach, who did not shake hands, did not say hello, but instead abruptly informed the Knight coach "This is our bench, so go tell your player to warm up somewhere else." No smile, no handshake, no "good luck." So this was "welcome to the Panther's homecourt." . Even though this fellows players were already warming up on the wrong basket. Ok, so the Knight's coach just files that one away for later reference. The Knight coach said nothing, determined instead to let the team do the talking.

And they did. The Knights opened up with a 14-0 scoring run in the first quarter, including 5 points and a big three from Dino Wilburn, and 6 points from Craig Weinstein who drove, dished and created shots off the dribble. Matt Lewellyn also gave an indication of things to come as he buried a long three early in the quarter (after complaining before game that he didn't feel too well). At the end of the first quarter, the Knights had backed off a bit on their usually swarming and smothering trapping press, and led by only 6 points, 18-12.

But in the second quarter, the rumblings turned into a full fledged eruption, as Dino Wilburn and David Gale both lit it up from outside. Gale hit two of his four threes in the game, and Wilburn scored 14 points, while Duwan Rice added 5, Weinstein added another 5, Lewellyn added another field goal from about 17' out, and Tillman added two free throws to cap a 36 point second quarter, while holding the Panthers to only 10 points, and at the half, the Knights led 22 to 54.

It looked like the Knights were well on their way to yet another record setting performance, and would surely break 100 points again. But after the explosion of scoring, both teams were somewhat down (the Knights because they were exhausted from doing all that scoring, and the Panthers, well, just because they were down from the score), and with the Valley Conference rule prohibiting a press or trapping defense, or indeed any backcourt defense, the third quarter was somewhat of a letdown, as the Knights only scored 7 points (a long three by David Gale and a field goal and two free throws from Dino Wilburn). But the Panthers only managed to score 14 points, and thus only closed the gap by seven points, hardly enough to matter as the Knights still led 61-36. Following the mental letdown, the Knights again regained their momentum as the Panthers just about collapsed and the final period saw every Knight player score multiple points, including Lewellyn, Weinstein and Gale all hitting three-pointers, as the Knights scored 32 points to the Panther's 13 points in the final period to win the game by a final score of 93-49. Actually the final should have been 96-49, but the refs disallowed Duwan Rice's long three which was shot well before time expired, but the ref's just figured enough was enough already.

The scoring attack was again fairly evenly balanced, but that alone doesn't tell the whole story of this game, especially the defensive efforts by Johnathon Williams and Brian Trump, neither of whom collected many points, but both of whom played tremendously aggressive and tenacious defense. Williams was again rewarded with the "fouling out" title, picking up his 5th personal with about 5 minutes to play in the game.

The high scorer was Wilburn with 25 points, followed by Weinstein with 16. Lewellyn had 14 points, including two threes. David Gale also had 14 points, including shooting 4 for 5 on three point attempts. Rice had 8 (not including the three that he should have had at the end of the game--11 if you count it), while Kranzdorf also had 8 points. Tillman had 6, while Trump had 2 from the line.

There was also a spectacular "alley-oop" play from Weinstein to Wilburn to cap off the fourth quarter, and put an exclamation point on the game. Not bad for a bunch of 14 year olds.

Oh, and about that Panther coach: At the end of the game, he refused to shake hands or even acknowledge the Knights team or its coaches. Who knows why, but he didn't. Oh well, at least the players all shook hands at the end of the game.

Game 7: Knights v. East Valley Trojans

Sorry to say, this was not much of a game in that the Trojans didn't offer much resistance. An example: At the half, the score was 44 to 19. In the third quarter, the game got even further away from the Trojans, as the Knights extended the lead to 66 to 28. And in the fourth quarter, the Knights experimented with their taller players such as 6'-4" Chris Tillman running the point, while little Duwan Rice (at 5'-4") played the "post". Harrison Schaen and Trump were missing in action, but the rest of the Knights were all hitting. Wilburn scored 16 points while Lewellyn again scored three three pointers on his way to a game high 23 point effort. None of the other Knights broke double figures though, as the scoring was evenly balanced among the rest including Gale, Weinstein, Rice, Tillman, Stein, Kranzdorf and Williams.

But there was one interesting sidenote: At the end of the Trojans' game, the Panther coach (the same one who wouldn't shake hands on Saturday with the Knights) was spotted in the doorway, watching the game, perhaps scouting, perhaps also a bit incredulous at the fine play and good sportsmanship of the Knights players, who refused to run up the score at the end of the game, even though they clearly could have done so, and in fact allowed the other team to pretty much score at will in the fourth period as they ran their experimental offense to get in a little practice.

And about that Panther coach: He still didn't shake hands or say hello. Oh well.

So what's next on the agenda?

The Knights will play the Spartans, a team from Granada Hills next Saturday. We'll try to catch this one, and bring you the results.