long beach to 10 & news

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Long Beach Press-Telegram Top 10
Poll & Player of the Week--(February 3, 1998)

More Top 10 polls. More "Players of the Week". This time from the Long Beach Press-Telegram (aka Steve Irvine, Frank Burlison).

First, the Player of the Week: If you guessed Tayshaun Prince, go to the head of the class. Prince, whom just about everyone is familiar with by now, and who will be attending Kentucky next year, currently plays for Compton Dominguez which is (check the poll below) the No. 1 team in the L.B. P-T poll, the LA Times Southland Regional Poll, the CIF Southern Section Poll, and the USA Today Western Region Poll.

Prince (6'-7" Sr. G/F/C) scored 22 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots against Compton in Dominguez victory this last Saturday, in which Dominguez won handily 72-47. He also scored 25 points in a San Gabriel Valley League win over Lynwood and 14 points and three steals over Downey in another league game. Compton Dominguez and Prince are the two-time defending Division II state champions and the Dons are top-ranked in the state again this season. In Saturday's game against Compton, Dominguez scored the first 17 points and Prince had it in perspective: "It was a big game for us to win. We're cross-town rivals and I think everybody wanted to see us lose. I think they wanted Compton to be the new team to beat in the 'hood."

We've already featured Jason Day's report of that game, but let us recap a bit. Dominguez held Compton scoreless until Reggie Howard made a free throw with 1:57 left in the first quarter. Compton missed its first 23 shots. David Hamilton, who scored 14 points, made the Tarbabes' first basket on a lay-up with 3:27 left in the first half. Compton trailed at that point, 30-7. Prince lead Dominguez with 22 points, 12 on three-point baskets. Keith Kincade added 18 points.

We could go on and on, but then the LB P-T knew when to stop, and so do we.

Congratulations Tayshaun from SoCalHoops.

Now the Poll. There are few surprises here:

1. Dominguez (16-3)
2. Artesia (21-1)
3. Compton (20-4)
4. Poly (18-6)
5. Bellflower (18-4
6. Centennial (16-5)
7. Jordan (13-10)
8. Los Alamitos (12-8)
9. Gahr (15-7)
10. Mayfair (13-9)

The LB P-T also had a few little featurettes in the "Prep Notebook" today, including a recap of Compton's tough schedule lately. Compton coach Rod Palmer called Compton's successive games against Jordan, Dominguez and Poly "by far the toughest stretch we've had here." The Tarbabes beat Jordan 75-52 on Friday, but were then blitzed by Dominguez on Saturday. But the Poly game will probably be the determining factor, according to the P-T at least, in whether Compton can claim an outright Moore League title this year. Compton is now 20-4 overall and 6-0 in league, and vist Poly (18-6, 5-1) Wednesday night at 7 pm. There is only one game separating the two. Compton won the first contest 73-47 when they first matched up at Compton, and we're willing to bet that the run and gun style of Compton will win again over the half-court set offense which Poly seems to favor.

The LB P-T also had a small feature on Jason Kapono (6'-8" Jr. SF) as well. It seems that the Artesia didn't play him much in the lopsided Surban League victories over La Mirada and Mayfair last week. But Kapono made the most of his time. Playing only 14 minutes in the 90-38 win over La Mirada, he still managed to score 24 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. And in the 82-50 win against Mayfair on Friday, Kapono played only 15 minutes but still managed to score 30 points (a basket a minute), and went 13 for 16 shooting from the field. Finally on Saturday against Poly, in the Poly-Artesia Winter Classic he got to play most of the game, and scored 22 points, grabbed 11 boards and help Artesia win 59-57 over Poly.