compton v. dons

SoCal High School & Prep Report

MLK Challenge: Game 4--
Compton vs. USDHS--(January 19, 1998)

So we're looking for Luke, but he's nowhere to be seen. He doesn't suit up, not in warmups. Blame it on that stupid St. Augustine game on Friday. Luke is resting the ankle, and will not play. Which is probably making Lute Olsen a happy camper over in the corner where he's trying to watch the games since his new recruit won't injure himself. But Lute doesn't seem to be able to shake the crowd surrounding him, and it doesn't look like he's really paying attention to the game. Oh well, at least Luke is letting the ankle heal up properly.

For USDHS the starters are:

Kam Walton (6'-8" So. C/F)
Chris Walton (6'-7" So. F)
David Abramowitz (6'-0" Sr. PG)
Carlos Cong (5'-4" Sr. G)
Ron McMillan (6'-6" Sr. F)

For Compton the starters are:

David Hamilton (6'-9" Sr. F/C)
Tito Maddox (6'-4" Jr. G/F)
Deandre Moore (5'-8" Sr. PG)
Milton Riley (6'-8" Sr. F)
Reggie Howard (6'-2" Sr. F)

Chris Walton scored first, and both teams are tight and appear nervous. Abramowitz strikes first, hitting a two and the next shot for a three pointer, and surprisingly (or not) it's USD out in front 5-0, with Compton scoreless with 6:03 to play in the first quarter. But that will change quickly. Abramowitz picks up the first foul on Hamilton, and he misses the second free throw after making the first, only coming away with the one point. Abramowitz then gets the ball and takes the j at the top of the key, and draws a foul from Deandre Moore, hitting both free throws, to extend the Dons lead to 7-1 with 5:40 to play. Unbelievable. Who woulda guessed Compton would only score a point in about three minutes. Kam Walton just makes an impressive spin move in the lane, and powers the ball up on a jumper, and the Dons pull out to an 11-1 lead. Amazing.

But then Abramowitz has the crowd oohing and ahhing with two unbelievable no look passes inside, and the Dons lead by 14-1. Incredible. 14-1.

Deandre Moore finally comes back for three and then Greg Ross follows with another shot on a putback, and with 3:55 to go it's 12-6 Uni. McMillan hits just a sweet little J on a pass from Kam Walton to bring it to 14-6, and then they go to work again, with Carlos Quentin hitting in the lane for two. But Hamilton is not going away quietly (does he ever?), and he hits for two, and then does it again, to score four consecutive point to bring it back to a 6 point game 16-10. Deandre Moore goes baseline, and proves that even little guys can get inside, but that's not surprising since both teams have now gone small except for Hamilton.

Compton's got Howard, Maddox, Moore, Ross, and Hamilton, but Uni has Abramowitz, Cong, Quentin, Hulbert and McMillan, but then Tomey realizes the mismatch, and puts Kam Walton back in. Ross drives the hole, makes the shot and draws the foul on Chris Walton, and with 40 seconds to play it's a three point game until Abramowitz hits his second three to bring it to 22-17, and then on the fast break steal, Chris Walton hits a layup on the fast break. But Compton comes right back, and at the end of the first quarter it's Compton 19, USDHS 24.

So now at the quarter break, the place is beginning to fill up, the bands are getting louder, and the fans are getting into it, enjoying the show from Maddox and Moore and Abramowitz and Chris Walton.

To start the second quarter, Ron McMillan commits a player control foul, and then Abramowitz commits his second foul on the way down against David Hamilton, which has Tomey just shaking his head at what the little guy thinks he's doing mixing it up with Hamilton the monster-man. Hamilton misses the free throw, but then hits the big slam next time down after the steal, and now Compton is the team pushing and driving the lanes, and with 6:42, they manage to bring it back to a three point game 24-21. Hamilton is then fouled on the next time down, and this time he hits them both from the line, and suddenly it's a one point game. Deandre steals the ball on the next possession on an errant pass from Hulbert, and Ray Ross scores, to give Compton the lead at 25-24 with 5:36 on the clock. Abramowitz, doing some dazzling dribbling, still manages to force the shot, turning it over, and in a matter of seconds, Compton has it again. Carlos Cong gets a bit lazy on the pass, and Hamilton then slams again for the crowd, giving Compton it's biggest lead at 27-24 with 4:33 to play.

Kam Walton decides to try a three, and airballs it, and Tomey wisely brings Hulbert back into the game for him. Cong is now out on the point having trouble with Maddox, but Abramowitz manages to find McMillan in the lane on a blindingly quick pass and it's back to a one point game, 26-27, Compton leading. Following a time-out, San Diego turns it over again on an errant pass from McMillan, and you can just see the frustration from Abramowitz building. Howard then scores again for Compton, and Abramowitz launches another 3, which misses, and Kam and Ellis Myles just bang heads, leading to a non shooting foul and ultimately a turnover for the Dons, and Compton scores on successive baskets by Myles and Hamilton, and now they lead 26-34 with only 1:21 to play in the half. Ross comes back in for Myles, and Uni, running a perimeter motion, looking for Abramowitz to penetrate, just isn't getting it working too well. David manages a behind-the-back no-look pass, which should have worked, had the crowd standing, but it went off Kam's hands, and Deandre Moore took it, scored, and then Reggie Howard scored following a shot clock violation by USDHS. So at the end of the first half, the score is Compton 38, San Diego 26.

This is really the best game so far in this exhibition series, and this is the first time we've had a chance to get a look at Abramowitz this year. He's just unbelievable, passing, cutting, pushing the ball, and he's got incredible control and ball movement skills. And it's nice to see David Hamilton coming back into his own, and getting his game under control. Even with the two massive slam dunks in the first half, he didn't over-act, and no real mugging for the crowd. Good thing, let his game do all the talking.

For the second half, Compton comes out with Reggie Howard, Moore, Ross, Hamilton and Maddox. SD comes out with Kam, Chris, McMillan, Cong and Abramowitz. The teams trade possessions for a couple of minutes, and then Abramowitz strikes first with a three, and it's 29-38, but then McMillan fouls Hamilton on a layup attempt (which he misses) and so the score, after the free throws is 29-39. Abramowitz hits another three, and it's32-39. Abramowitz then quickly picks up his third, and he forces a travel by Tito. Abramowitz call s a spread offense, and manages to bullet-pass the ball to McMillan,who scores, and it's back to a 5 point game with McM at the line, but he misses the foul shot. Deandre is on the wing, shots and misses, and Abramowitz is still dazzling the crowd, but Maddox manages to score on a crowded possession. Reggie Howard commits the passing error instead of going to the hold, trying to get the ball to Hamilton, but it doesn't matter much, because Deandre Moore is fouled on a three point attempt. Score 41-34. Miss first, make second, make third. 43-34, 4:36 to play in the quarter. McMillan gets a charity call on Hamilton's goaltending, and then Maddox is fouled by McMillan, goes to the line shooting two and he hits only one, and it's 44-36 with 4:01 to play.

Howard blocks Chris Walton's shot, and then Abramowitz manages a steal. Kam is just back and he feeds to Abramowitz, who hits for yet another three, but it's not making much of a dent as Hamilton gets the dunk in the lane . Chris Walton hooks, and Lanere Anderson answers with the two in the lane, and the scoring is just running wild, 41-48 Compton. A break in the action occurs when McMillan picks up his third foul with 2:00 exactly to play in the quarter, and Uni uses the opportunity to call a 20 second time-out. It works and Howard misses the free throws, and McMillan hits again to bring it to within 5 with 1:08 to play, 43-48. Maddox then slams into McMillan on a spinning j in the lane, and he misses, but Abramowitz hits McMillan on the backdoor play and suddenly the score is again 45-48, but Hamilton answers with a layup. So at the end of the third quarter, the score is 45-50 Compton.

Eight minutes to go. Fourth quarter. Showtime.

So here we go. Kris Walton doesn't pick up offensively, but he does manage to foul Ray Ross who goes to the line, and misses the first, and the second, but Hamilton makes up for it with the tap in, and it's now 52-45. Deandre is guarding David, and he picks up his second personal. Hamilton is out on the wing waving his arms in Kam's face, but it doesn't matter as Kam then out-rebounds him, feeding to Abramowitz who hits a veryyyy long three, but Deandre comes right back, and it's still Compton's game, 55-48 with 6:05 to play. Connor Hulbert goes to the line, hits both foul shots off of Maddox' foul, and then Compton goes into a set offense, feeding the ball back and forth between Hamilton and Maddox, and Tito launches a three. 58-50 Compton. SD misses last time down, then Milton Riley travels, turning it over, and Tomey looks to re-set in the last 4:59 calling a full time-out. We'd love to be in the huddle right about now, seeing what kind of play he's mapping for his players, and hear what he's saying, if he can be heard over the just deafening din from the Compton Tarbabe band. UCLA ought to hire them, because they just fill this place with noise.

Hulbert brings the ball up, they run it to Cong, who feeds to McMillan, who misses the shot, gets his rebound on the ground, and then they reset. Ultimately Maddox fouls again. Abramowitz proves he's just the best passing guard on the West Coast, and he makes an amazing series of passes, which has the crowd just falling down gasping, the first behind his back, and the other a sort of over-the-shoulder spin pass to McMillan who scores. But with 3:24 remaining, it's still a 10 point game, 52-62, and there's only 3:23 to play. For every play that SD pulls off, Compton comes right back. San Diego gets about 6 shots at the basket, but can't make a single one. Finally, the track meet takes a rest with Connor Hulbert's second person on Moore, and he misses them both, but then Connor picks up his third on the rebound, sending Hamilton to the line who misses, and Abramowitz leads the fast break to Connor who scores. But time is running out. With 1:48 to play, its' 54-62, and SD has time to contend with now. But the Tarbabes turn it over, and Ray Ross commits his third foul sending Chris Walton to the line. He makes the first, 55-62, miss the second, and there's still 1:37 to play. A jump ball on the rebound gives the refs time to figure out who gets it (literally, it took about two minutes to straighten out) but it's Compton's ball. Maddox feeds to Howard who misses, and Kam gets the board, but McMillan then picks up yet another foul (his fourth) sending Howard to the line. He misses but the Tarbabes control, and Ray Ross manages to get his own put-back for the score. With 16 seconds, this game is over, and it's 55-64 Compton. Deandre goes into a stall. Clock runs out. Game over.

Final score Compton 64, USDHS 55.

Great game. Just great. This is what it's all about, even if it wasn't very close at the end. Just a great game.

Did we say that already?

Well, it was a great game.

Our player of the game was David Abramowitz for USDHS and David Hamilton for Compton. Abramowitz had 23 points (according to the stats we got) and Hamilton had 20.

Next up: Game 5-- Fairfax v. Long Beach Poly.