SoCal High School & Prep Report

Game Notes: Harvard-Westlake
Beats Alemany--(January 15, 1998)

Even without their star point guard, Harvard-Westlake is still a good team. Not a great team, no superstars (ok, well, maybe just one in Russell Lakey). Just a bunch of really fine, hardworking players, some of whom got lots of playing time last night, and a bunch of others who didn't get enough. Coach Hilliard, wearing his trademark (or so we're told) very hip suit, and looking every bit as relaxed as he could, is still searching for that "just right" combination of players now that he's without the only returning starter from last year's Division III State Championship team. Without Victor Munoz, who sustained a knee injury of unknown severity, H-W is now truly a team of sophomores, juniors and newcomers and only one "true" senior in Pat Biggerstaff, and when he fouls out, it's really a young bunch. Even though they bear the mantle of "State Champions", there's no way this is the same team. They are about as likely to repeat this year as State Champs as pigs are to sprout wings and fly. Maybe not even that likely. But they're still very fun to watch, if only because everyone thinks they're playing the State Champions.

Here's last night's starting lineup comparisons:

Neither team is particularly overwhelming size-wise, and the matchups were pretty even, with the possible exception of Casio for Alemany, who is just this little fire-plug of a player, with speed, a good handle, and the ability to shoot from outside, but not much of a threat to penetrate. Talk about short, we believe the only shorter point guard is Chatsworth's Lee Craiton (the step-brother of San Fernando's Center Tyrone Purnell) who's only 5'-5". And while Casio really doesn't have the same ball skills as Russell Lakey of H-W, he's still quite a ballplayer.

And just so you know who else was on hand, the rest of the bench players for both teams were:

We have no idea where Terzian or Logan were; maybe they were on the bench, but we didn't see them.

This looked like a game which was going to be a blowout, and it looked bad from the start for Alemany. H-W came out trapping and pressing, and Alemany was nervous and uncertain, and after less than two minutes the score was 7-0 on several Pat Biggerstaff and Russell Lakey baskets; then Minn hit for 3 to make it 10-0 with 5:14 showing on the clock. Alemany finally scored on a free throw and then a basket by Clausen, but then Kurihawa hit for 3, and Eric Geffner, who had come into the game for Alex Holmes, hit a high, arching three pointer, to bring the score to 15-3 with 3:00 left to play in the first quarter. Pat Biggerstaff then picked up what would be the second foul of the evening in what seemed like a constant fist-fight with Clausen down in the paint, and Clausen hit both free-throws to bring the score to 15-5. John Karravas, who ultimately scored only 4 on the evening was then fouled, went to the line and brought the score to 17-5. Karravas played with great intensity, and his true value last night was in his impressive defense rather than his scoring, which was spotty. But when Hilliard tells John to stick with his man, Karravas takes him literally. He's one of the better shadow defenders, and has great ability to change direction. Now if only he were about a foot taller. . .

Alemany finally got going with a little over a minute in the first quarter, and Michael Murray, who's a fairly athletic, thin but strong and lively player, hit a J in the lane in an attempt to resuscitate the seemingly code-blue patient; after his shot, Alemany seemed to come alive, and brought the score 17-7. But then Dan Kinzer, who had come in to give Pat Biggerstaff a rest (and to prevent him from fouling out in the first quarter), hit a very nice reverse layin to bring the score to 19-7 with about 1:17 showing on the clock. Kinzer seemed to miss a lot from inside, and we're pretty sure that Hilliard will be running some layup drills just for Kinzer over the next two days before Chaminade. Alemany, mostly on the backs of Murray, Clausen and Delfin Yuhico, then hit the next 5 straight points, and at the end of the quarter, the score was 21-13, and H-W led by 8. Not bad.

In the second quarter, the lead pretty much stayed at about 8 until late in the quarter, when H-W stretched it to 10. This was not a very high scoring game, and the second quarter demonstrated the tenacious defense which both teams were playing. Yuhico hit first, and brought the score to 21-17, but only after almost 3 minutes had gone by without a score from either team. Then Lakey decided to take over: He hit the second of his six three pointers, to put H-W ahead 24-17. Ultimately after trading baskets some more, Alemany called timout with the score 35-22, with 2:12 showing following consecutive layups by Chad Garson and Russell Lakey. Coming out of the time out, Alemany ran a classic "weave" (ala' the Boston Celtics) for what seemed like a minute (actually it was a lot less, given that there was not shot clock violation), but it only resulted in a Lakey steal, and a basket for H-W. After a couple of interesting foul calls, most notably a phantom one called on Chad Garson for "fouling" Clausen, who himself ought to get a Golden Gloves award for pushing, hitting and shoving down low, the quarter ended with H-W comfortably ahead by 10, with the score 35-25.

But if H-W thought they had this game wrapped up at the half, they were mistaken. While H-W managed to stretch the lead to 40-28 with 5:56 remaining in the third, Pat Biggerstaff was continually in foul trouble, and Alemany's shooters, notably Jayson Addcox, who bears a striking resemblance to Bradley Jackson, and Alejandro Velasquez, were both finding their range. But Russell Lakey, who's got to be one of the best point guards in SoCal, kept hitting for twos and threes, and by the end of the third quarter, it was still a 10 point game, and H-W was leading by 49-39.

But it was about to get a little bit dicier for the Wolverines down the stretch.

Fourth Quarter. Alemany's Addcox quickly hit for another three, and the score was now 49-42 with 7:05 remaining. Less than 10 seconds later, Clausen managed to convert on a steal by Murray, and Alemany had cut the lead to only 5, 49-44. But Lakey came charging back, and off the transition on a missed Alemany shot he scored another layup to bring the score to 51-44, and then doubled back again, hitting an 18' J from the left side which hit nothing but net, to put H-W ahead 53-44. But Delfin Yuhico, a strong presence for Alemany, with a very quick first step, and with a fine outside shot, hit a 3 for Alemany, bringing it back to 53-47.

With 5:39 to play, it happened. Actually it had been happening all night down low, between Clausen and whomever was guarding him. Clausen is the kind of player who is fairly strong, a large body, and likes to make his presence known by throwing arms, body, elbows and whatever else he can against a defender or an offensive player. His footwork is not great, and he's by no means really a center, but that's where Alemany's coach Jin Park had him playing last night. And he and Pat Biggerstaff had been going at it, tooth and nail all night, and when Pat was not in Chad Garson, Dan Kinzer, and Alex Holmes were mixing it up with Clausen. But somehow, the refs only managed to see it when the opposing H-W players were fighting back, and of course, that meant that Biggerstaff was skating on thin ice. Well, with 5:39 to go, on a questionable call off a rebound, Biggerstaff was called for his 5th personal, and went to the bench, which meant that the center rotation was down to Kinzer and Holmes. Fortunately for H-W, and unfortunately for Alemany, Clausen missed the front end of the 1-1, and the score remained at 53-47.

But then little Joe Casio went to work, and hit a three of his own, and suddenly, with only 4:16 to play, Alemany trailed by only 3 points, 53-50, and Harvard-Westlake, which had not lost a game on its home court in more than 4 years, was in jeopardy of having the magic broken.

Again, Russell Lakey, perhaps not aware of "the streak" nor even caring much about it, wasn't about to let his team lose. Showing incredible speed, control, and maturity, Russell first hit a long 2, which was answered by Clausen with a layup in the lane, and with 3:52, it was still a three point game, 55-52. Buth then Russell again came down the court, pushing the ball, and pulled up way behing the three point line, hitting a 24' or 25' NBA range three-point shot, and it was back up to 6 points, 58-52. Casio then rushed a shot, missing a three-point attempt badly, and H-W pushed the ball, with Eric Geffner (Mr. Nose for the Ball), scoring on the put-back, and it was back to a more manageable 8 point margin, 60-52 for H-W. Again Lakey hit another 3 following his own steal from Jayson Addcox, and H-W stretched the lead to 63-52. Even though time was fast running out, Yuhico struck again for two from near the top of the key, and Lakey again scored for two, and with only seconds left, the score was 65-54. Eric Geffner scored the final points from the line on a Casey Clausen foul, and H-W managed to escape with a 67-54 victory.

The final scoring figures were:

H-W: Karavas 4, Lakey 27, Kurihawa 3, Holmes 4, Minn 8, Geffner 7 and 7 rebounds, Garson 2, Naylor 2, Kinzer 2, and Biggerstaff 8 with 8 boards.

Alemany: Clausen 14, Velasquez 8, Casio 6, Murray 10, Yuhico 7, Levis 1, Docan 5, and Lowe 3.

After the game, I had another chance to chat with some of the coaches, and all that Alemany's coaches could do was smile, shrug, and pretty much say (in not so many words) "Well, after all, it was Harvard-Westlake, at home, and what else should have happened." One of the assistants smiled and said "We almost had them." Hilliard, who was relieved, said "That sure was a close one. This is a very different experience from the past few years. But this is a very different team. They're young, tough, and while we sure aren't the favorites any more, we'll be competitive."

We also talked about H-W's upcoming game this Friday night against Chaminade, and Hilliard remained as philosophical as he could be. "You know, Chaminade's probably a 20 point favorite. But I just hope everyone realizes they'll be playing a team of sophomores and juniors who really are not last year's team. This really is a different bunch of guys. The Collins twins are gone, and without Victor, we're going to be searching for ways to win."

Even with all the caveats, we at SoCalHoops are anticipating a great game on Friday, and it will be interesting, if for no other reason than to see two great point guards in Chaminade's Cayce Cook and Russell Lakey matchup against each other. And it'll be fun to see if Alex Holmes and Pat Biggerstaff can stop Scott Borchart and Scott Long.

You don't really need a crystal ball to figure out which is the taller, stronger team, and what the outcome might be if these two teams played "on paper". But it's sure gonna be fun to watching this one. The game is tomorrow night, at 7:00 pm at Chaminade. Don't miss it.

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