dpsb

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Dos Pueblos Wins Over Santa
Barbara By One Point--(January 18, 1998)

Doing their best to try to imitate the Cal Bears and Raymond "Circus" King, the Santa Barbara Dons passed up a chance to make a three point attempt to win the game, and instead opted for a meaningless shot under the basket with only 2 seconds left, which insured that they would lose. What were they thinking.

But this game was another squeaker for Dos Pueblos as well, and Shantay Legans and his coach, Phil Sherman must be getting pretty tired of almost blowing leads in the fourth quarter, and they must be getting tired of not scoring more than 60 or so points in a game. On Friday night they won by only a single point, 63-62, on a last minute coast-to-coast run of the court and basket by Shantay Legans, who was in and out of the game all night bleeding profusely off and on from a cut which required 5 stitches ultimately from a doctor who was in the house. The game was played before a packed house at Dos Pueblos high last Friday night.

Santa Barbara, in fact, had a chance to tie at the end of the game with a 3-pointer after Dos Pueblos made 1-of-2 free throw attempts with 12.2 seconds remaining. But in the frantic final moments, the Dons settled instead for a layup by J. R. Allen and the clock expired before they could call a timeout. Santa Barbara had two players trying to come off screens for 3-pointers but J. R. presented an open opportunity inside, and when he got the ball, he did what he was trained to do, score. Santa Barbara tried to call a timeout, but couldn't as the clock expired.

If the ending wasn't what the Dons wanted, most of the rest of game was something Dos Pueblos coach Phil Sherman said he could barely watch. "I don't see how Santa Barbara lost,'' said Sherman, whose Chargers are 6-0 in league and 15-2 overall. "They did everything better than us. We prepared for their offense more than we have prepared for anyone and they still beat us with it."

Almost beat, coach. The Dons who are now 3-3 in league play and and 10-7 overall, held a 53-52 lead in the fourth quarter on a basket by Allen and got a 3-pointer by Daniel Worzella to tie the game at 60 with 1:40 to play. But a Santa Barbara turnover and Legans' length-of-the-court run for a layup, followed by a defensive rebound by Alex Jenkins and an offensive rebound by Ryan Holbrook, provided the pivotal plays for the Chargers in the final seconds.
Despite his cut, Legans, who still led all scorers with 19 points, reentered after going out in the first quarter, with 4:19 to play in the third period. "I thought we were going to have to go without him,'' said Sherman. "Thank God there was a doctor in the house."

Johnny Ortiz led Santa Barbara with 12 points - all on 3-pointers - while Tony Freeman nearly had a triple double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Allen and Sean Kelley each had 11 points while Craig Christ had seven points, eight rebounds and four steals. Jenkins backed up Legans with 17 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots. Dan Hoefer added 10 points - all in the final six minutes.

Shantay's head must have hurt too much from this one, but here's his report from the game anyway:

Still can't get out of them 60's boy. First quarter we started strong up 19-9. I had 8 and then someone on Santa Barbara decided to pop open my head with an elbow. The refs didn't see it of course, but they sure saw the blood and I had to leave the game and get a bandage put on it. But it was almost to the bone so it kept bleeding and they kept stopping the game to pull me out, so I couldn't get in the flow. I still have the flu, but I think that head banging elbow knocked it out of me. HAHAHAHA. I got it stitched up at halftime and was able to play the second half without coming out. I only played about 6 minutes in the first half and after I came out they caught up with us. Lot of thugs on that team - cheap shot guys. One of my best firneds plays on SB also - it's a small town up here. Alex Jenkins played GREAT - big man hit 2 3's and Hoefer got going in the second half also. They foul a lot so we were at the line a lot and making them. Hoefer made some and 1's but they went up by one with 5 minutes to go. Then we started pulling away and then they tied it. I stole the ball and made a length of court run for a lay up. They fouled Holbrook - game. We sure make it harder than it should be. We don't have another game until Wednesday in Oxnard, so maybe I'll be over this flu. I had game high 19 points and don't know the rest of the stats, but my head sure is hurting - I got 5 stitches in my eyebrow.

Legans

Take it easy Shantay, and get some rest. You'll need it.