dominguez v. westchester

SoCal High School & Prep Report

MLK Challenge: Game 7-- Compton
Dominguez v. Westchester--(January 19, 1998)

Game 7: The Main Event. We've been waiting so long we won't keep you in suspense. And besides, since the scorekeepers were so screwy, we'll repeat the score here at the front end of this article; compare it to the score at the end of the article. They should be the same. Dominguez 71, Westchester 62. But it was really much closer than it seemed. Really.

This was billed as the "State Championship". Don't tell Alameda St. Joe's or Mountain View, or St. Francis. It was billed as a game in which each team might score 100 points.

Well, it didn't quite turn out that way, but there was some tremendous defense, and some great offensive play. And this game was every bit as exciting as it was supposed to be. But for reasons that weren't so obvious at first.

Here's our sort of "play-by-play" report. If you've read the games that preceded this one, then you'll understand the style. It's not our favorite way to report on players, but it does mean that we get the story and flavor of the game to those of you who weren't there. Anyway, at least it's our take on the game. And just to make it look like one of Jason's stories for us, we've even thrown in a little byline. Jason was also at these games, and he'll be sending us his observations, he says not so much detail, but just some general observations. But in the meantime, here's our take on the game.

DOMINGUEZ WINS THE UNOFFICIAL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

By SoCalHoops

So this is the one we've been waiting for all day. Bluthenthal is looking impressive. Tony Bland is smooth, Brandon Granville quick and loose. Tayshaun Prince is playing the sleepy giant, while Tyson Chandler is just marveling at the crowd which is growing and swelling to near capacity. . . well, ok there are still a whole bunch of open seats up top, but the place is pretty full, about 9,000 people.

And this is just warmups.

Over there is Michael Cooper passing up Chick Hearn's 3000th broadcast at the Laker game tonight to do this game for FSW2. Pat Barrett, Robert Ikehart from ARC, the entire Southern California All Stars team, the Belmont Shores team, and a bunch of the players from virtually every single high school that is not playing in this game; Dave Goosen of Venice; Dave Enowitz from Reseda, a lot of our friends. Michael Miller is there, working the room. So is Barrett, Lee Garson, Lute Olson, Lorenzo Romar, George Raveling, and others. The newspaper and fan camera flashes are becoming bothersome, but they remind you of the importance of the event. There's Eli Essa and Mike Le Duc getting ready for their game which will follow this one. Everyone wants to see the show. And they especially want to see Tony Bland's very cool striped socks, which today are red and black horizontal knee-length. On both legs.

The same socks which will get him benched finally by Coach Ed Azzam. At least until he puts on the official team uniform white regulation socks. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Before the game, there's a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., just to remind us all of why there's a holiday today. So everyone stands for 10 seconds of silence.

Then it's game time.

Westchester starts:

David Bluthenthal (6'-7" Sr. C/F)
Chris Williams (6'-1" Sr. G)
Albert Miller (6'-3" Sr. F)
Chris Osborne (6'-9" Jr. C)
Brandon Granville (5'-10 Sr. PG)

Dominguez starts:

Willie Hurst (5'-11" Sr. PG)
Keith Kincaide (6'-4" Jr. G/F)
Tyson Chandler (7'-0" Fr. C)
Walter "Biggie" Small (6'-5" Sr. F)
Tayshaun Prince (6'-8" Sr. PG/SG/SF/PF/C)

The tip goes out of bounds, knocked there by both Bluthenthal and Tyson Chandler. Do it again. Westchester controls. Miller takes one, misses the shot, gets the board, and scores. Tayshaun takes a three and misses. Bluthenthal hits on an alley-oop and its Comets 4, Dons 0 with one minute gone. 6:38, Don's ball out of bounds and they do it again, this time, Small passes to Prince who drives the lane and misses. Comets ball, but Prince blocks the shot by Miller on the board. Could have been goal-tending but instead on the other way down its a foul on Osborne and Kincaide goes to the line shooting two. Hits the first, misses the second. 4-1 Comets. On the inbounds, Hurst lets Small take it in and it goes off Prince's hand and on the ensuing possession, Osborne misses, and the Dons get it back. Tyson takes it to the hole, and gets shoved. Neither team really wants to take charge and at 5:33 Tony Bland finally comes into the game for Osborne. Tyson makes the first, misses the second. and it's 4-2. Not exactly a scoring fest. Bluthenthal with the offensive charge on Tyson. Turnover.

5:10 to play in the first quarter and Prince is at point, but none of the Dons can convert, and on the other way down, Tay fouls Tony Bland, who makes the two point basket shot, and goes to the line for the "and one", missing the free throw. Significantly, Tony has now lost the striped socks. It seems that Ed Azzam benched him and wasn't going to play him until he changed the socks. Good for you Ed Azzam. If it's a team, then dress like one.

Tayshaun scores a two point basket, is fouled, and goes to the line hitting the one, and it's 7-4 (but the board is wrong--something that never got straightened out). Tayshaun takes another three. Bland then has the crowd going nuts with a feed to Bluthenthal, who slams, and on the other end Keith Kincaide scores for the Dons. According to the board, it's now a one point game with the Comets ahead by one, 8-7. Even the LA Times guys next to me say its wrong. Oh well. Maybe during one of these other TV timeouts they'll fix it. At 3:41 to play Mike Carson hits for three. Granville answers with a three of his own, and then Bland is fouled by Keilon Fortune. Bland makes the first, makes the second, and its now 10-12 Comets. On the ensuing Don possession, Granville fouls Boulton who goes to the line for two, and makes them both, and now it's 12-13 (magically the Comets just got another point--oh well.) Bluthenthal, Tay and Bland all jam on successive plays and it's now 17-12 (boy is this scoreboard messed up).

Tayshaun is just getting a bit frustrated, nothing he's shooting is dropping, but Mike Carson is on fire, and Carson hits a three from the left side. Small is guarding Bluthenthal, a pretty uneven matchup, and Tyson manages to not only steal the ball from David on the distraction, but gets himself down court, passes to Small, and still manages to get the putback off of Small's missed shot. So according to the "official" scoreboard, it's now a tied game with 6 seconds, 17-17.

Second quarter: Granville misses from three point range, and Tyson on the other end with a very nice elevation hits the J to break the tie. Bluthenthal picks up his second with 6:39 to play in the half, sending Small to the line, who makes the first, and hits the second and now it's Dominguez 21-17. David B then takes a great turn around jump stop J in the lane for two.

At 5:55 Jason Thomas, who has not played at all this year, goes into the game. Tyson tries a leaping dunk, misses, but gets the foul called on Osborne, his third, and Bland comes in for Osborne. Tyson makes the first shot at the line, misses the second one very badly, not even hitting the rim (a violation) and the ball goes out of bounds to the Comets. With 5:32 to play, Thomas is pounding Bluthenthal and gets called for the battle down low. Keith Kincaide scores a two off the steal by Hurst, and on the way back, Bland travels, turning the ball over. 4:50 to play and the Dons are up 24 to 19. Tayshaun again misses wildly. The Comets fail to score, and Granville steps out of bounds with the ball. On the way back to Don territory, Dominguez calls a 20 second time out, and Tay just pushes the ball for a Jason

Thomas alley-oop, which he misses, but Thomas gets the call. Brooks comes in for Tyson, and Jason Thomas misses not only the free throw but also the =put back from his missed shot. Tayshaun manages to get the ball back, driving and weaving through the lane, passing up a wide open fast break to Thomas, who's alone. So with 3:15 in the quarter remaining, the TV gods speak again, and time is called. The "official" score is 26-19 Dominguez but that's wrong. Maybe they'll straighten it out at the half. Who knows. Maybe the LA Times guy to my left is wrong. Good thing this game doesn't really matter. Right. Tell it to the 9,000 people who are packed into Pauley.

On the next possession, Brooks scores from way out on the perimeter, and Dominguez takes a 28-19 lead. On the inbounds, Bland feeds to Chris Williams, who makes the shot and gets to the line, hitting. 2:29 left and it's 28-22 on the scoreboard. The Dons fail to convert and Brandon Granville gets the three on a very pretty look. Tayshaun comes back with the two, and Dominguez is in a sort of modified man-to-man 2-3 zone. Bland goes to the line, hits the shot and turns the trey play, and suddenly, the Comets only trail by two 28-30 with a minute to play. Albert Miller takes Jason Thomas into the lane, and pulls up for the J, pulling the Comets even at 30 with 27 seconds to play. But Janol Johnson is fouled by Miller, and he goes to the line, missing, but finally Jason Thomas scores on the putback layup. And with one second on the clock, Prince takes the ball the length of the floor, takes it to the hoop, and hits the shot and its now 34-32 Dons according to the official board.

We'll find out if it's right sooner or later.

Second half-- Here we go:

Granville on Hurst, to Small, who hits for two; answered by Osborne in the lane with the j. Tayshaun bobbles the ball on the way down to the baseline, and turns it over, but the ball gets back to him somehow. Prince throws up one of his patented throws from 15 ' which drops. Two Granville misses, and then the Dons have it back as Bland comes back into the game after sitting for a moment. Tay is guarded by Bland and when Tay shoots over him he cracks this big grin, ear to ear. Tony takes the ball down to the hole, pulls up and misses. 5:36 to play in the quarter and it's 40-34 Dominguez. Tyson gets a foul called on him, then gets the rebound, and sets for a shot, shooting an airball. But Dominguez somehow manages to get it back, and Tay feeds Small, who makes the off balance shot, and gets the call against Bluthenthal, his third. Miller then gets fouled, hits them both, and it's a 6 point game. Miller then hits for two in lots of traffic and it's back to a four point game, 42-38 with 4:07 left to play. The Dons are now playing Hurst, Small, Jason Thomas, Tay and Brooks, and it's not going to work as Albert Miller scores again to make it 42-40.

After another TV time-out, Janol Johnson is at the point and makes the shot which goes around and around the rim and comes out, and eventually Brooks is called for the foul, and it's obvious to everyone in the house except him. On the way down to Comet land, Janol Johnson commits his third, and Granville goes to the line, missing the first, and making the second to bring it to a one point game, 42-41. Brooks' pass to Johnson is then stolen and the Comets get the ball knocked away by Tay, who then gets called for goaltending on the next possession. Johnson then commits a charge on Granville, and on the way to Comet land, Prince picks up his second on Chris Williams who hits at the line, and after a Dominguez score by Johnson, its tied at 44-44 with 1:26 to play. Tayshaun then gets up for another block, and is lucky he wasn't called for the foul. Instead it goes to Jason T for his third, and Granville misses both badly. The Dons then manage to turn it over themselves, and the Comets also fail to score. Prince puts up a great left hand layin from way out on the left, but then Janol Johnson fouls out with 27 seconds on a silly foul. Jason T is in danger himself of getting a T if he doesn't keep his jaw closed. Granville makes both shots, and it's now 46-47 Comets, but then Carson hits for three again, and it's 49-47 Dominguez leading. Tay tries to get off another buzzer beater, but it's late. So at the end of the third quarter, it's still a two point game.

This was not exactly the 100-100 point game which everyone hyped it as, but it's still a pretty damn good game. Tyson is showing some great moves, Tayshaun Prince is showing why he is one of the best shooters from both the perimeter and inside, even if he is missing all his three point shots. And Granville and Bland are making big moves for the Comets. The only real disappointment is Bluthenthal, who has sat for a good deal of the first half, with three fouls.

Here we go. Fourth Quarter. Final 8 minutes.

Albert Miller gives the ball to BG, who feeds to Osborne for the oop, and it's back to a tie at 49 each. Tayshaun then gets the rebound from Hurst's short shot, and again just hangs in the lane for a left hand smooth j. 51-49. Tyson Chandler then gets the putback on the missed Jason Thomas shot, and Dominguez goes out in front by four. Hurst heaves the ball the length of the court to Tyson, who loses it out of bounds,but it goes off Bluthenthal. Tay misses a three, and Hurst gets the board, but Miller fouls. Small then gets fouled on the way up by Granville, who picks up his third. With the score 53-49, Small makes the first, 54-49, and hits the second, 55-49.

Prince goes to the line after missing the layup on a foul by Osborne, hits the first, 56-49, misses the second, and Tyson drops the ball out of bounds. Azzam calls a 20 second time-out with 4:49 remaining.

Granville brings the ball to Bland, who hits in the lane. On the way down the other way, Chandler gets wayyyy up and dunks over Bluthenthal. The Comets though pull back, as Bland scores, and Prince picks up his third foul. Bland misses, and with 4:06 to play, it's Dons 58, Comets 53. Bluthenthal picks up his fourth foul on Tyson, who makes one, but Tayshaun gets the board and the score on the miss, and it's an 8 point game with 3:51 to play.

But then Bluthenthal picks up his fifth foul on little Willie Hurst, and the game is over. At least for David it is, and he goes to the bench.

Hurst makes a shot, misses the free throws, and it's 61-53, but the Comets are missing way too many opportunities. With 3:24 to play, Hurst turns the ball over, and Bland looks for Miller, who is just BLOCKED by Tyson.

Dominguez goes into a 2-3 zone, and the Comets just can't penetrate, then Tyson does it again to Osborne, blocking his shot big-time, and eventually Osborne makes it to the line hitting one, but then Bland misses a layup badly (Use the black board Tony!.)

Prince scores again, and then Granville hits, which is answered by Granville, and in the ensuing madness, it's a rugby scrum on the floor. 1:49 to play and the score is 65-59, still very doable for Westchester. Tay shoots, and Osborne commits his fifth.

So Osborne and Bluthenthal are now both gone.

The foul was actually on Walter Small, who goes to the line makes one to take it to 66. Then Albert Miller fouls out with five and Jason Thomas goes to the line, shooting two with 1:06 to play. And we don't want to forget that during the ensuing play, Bland's layup was also powerfully blocked by Tayshaun Prince. On the next play down, with 1:00 to play and the Dons leading by 8, Tony Bland gets called for the charge. So who does Westchester have in a the end?

Bland, (who hits the foul shot on the illegal block by JT), Chris Williams , Granville, Lou Wright.

But it's not enough.

Dominguez wins 71-62, and the announcer proclaims them the No. 1 team in SoCal. Tayshaun Prince is the Player of the Game for Dominguez, while Granville is the Comets player of the Game.

What a great game. The ref'ing was a bit too tight for our comfort, but it was still a chance to see which team played the best on a given day. We're betting though that if there were a rematch, that it might turn out a bit differently. Still, it's hard to argue with success, and with Tyson, Tayshaun, Jason Thomas, Hurst, Brooks, Mike Carson pounding down the threes, it's very hard to imagine them losing in a rematch.

Great game. Final 71-62.

Great game. Great event.

Did we say that already? Just can't say it enough. We're staying through the end of Game 8, but we're just going to watch (not write up) Ruben Douglas of Bell-Jeff and Casey Jacobsen of Glendora play. We won't write this one up until tomorrow.

So for now, adios from the MLK Challenge at Pauley. See you there next year. And remember to look for our article on the last game, Bell-Jeff v. Glendora in the next day.