hw lasalle

SoCal High School & Prep Report

La Salle Tournament: Harvard-
Westlake Beats Reseda--(January 2, 1998)

In the Fifth Place Game of the La Salle/Temple City Tournament, Harvard-Westlake (12-2) demonstrated again that a team with only two losses, both to very fine teams, and one which could and should certainly have been won (we're talking about Long Branch here) is really not a "fifth" place team at all, but is much better than that. But they also showed what can happen to a team that forgets just how good it can be. While Harvard-Westlake won over Reseda, which as we all know, was 0-20 last year, and is already doing a whole lot better this year, they struggled at times and showed why H-W is really a very different team than they were last year. And certainly Reseda showed why Dave Enowitz' patience is paying off, and that they are a much better team than last year's disaster . For the first three quarters, Reseda was actually playing even with the defending Division III State Champions. In the first quarter, on the driving and scoring of Knox and Alvarez, who finished with 16 and 14 respectively, Reseda managed to keep it within a single point 12-13, Harvard.

Harvard-Westlake also had some woes even before the game started, including Alex Minn (6'-1" Jr. SG) going down with an ankle injury in the semifinal round, and missing the game. Eric Geffner (6'-5" So. F) started in his place at the three-spot, his first start of the year, and either he was a bit nervous or just feeling a bit "off", because he only had 5 points, most in the first half, and didn't play much in the second half. Geffner, a usually fine rebounder, also was only able to manage 3 boards, and appeared to struggle against Reseda.

In the second quarter, Harvard was only able to extend the lead to three points at the half, outscoring Reseda 23-21, to take a 36-33 lead at the half. Reseda was encouraged and fired up in the third half, and Harvard again demonstrated that it could commit a few turnovers, leading to Reseda not only closing the gap, but ending the third quarter leading by one, 51-50. But in the fourth quarter, Victor Munoz & Co. weren't taking any nonsense from this team, and in one stretch over a few minutes, John Karavas (5'-9" So. SG) became the hero of the game, scoring 4 consecutive three pointers. In fact, Karravas finished with 12 in the game, and shot 4-8 from downtown.

In the first half, the perimeter shooting of H-W, which just has to rely on its outside game this year, was virtually non-existent. Neither Victor Munoz (6'-0" Sr. PG) nor Russell Lakey (5'-11" So. PG/SG) could connect and even though Victor ultimately finished with 21 points and 7 assists, he went 0-6 from the three point line, while Lakey, who collected 21 points only shot 3 for 8 from field, 3-14 from 3 , and went 6-6 from the line. And the inside game was not much better in the first half either, as Pat Biggerstaff managed to not score at all in the first half. He did redeem himself and the team by pulling down 13 boards, and scoring 7 points in the game. Alex Holmes also struggled a bit in the first half, looking a bit dazed and confused, and we suspect a touch of the flu from him. Holmes ultimately finished with 6 points, and Kurihawa had 2. Dan Kinzer was not much of an impact player, and also only scored 2 points.

But it was Karravas who led the team back from the wilderness, and if some players get into a "zone" at times, John found his, hitting those nice consecutive shots. Chad Garson (6'-4" So. SF/SG), Ike Udeze (6'-2" Sr. PF), John Terzian (5'-11" Sr. PG/SG)., Justin Logan (5'-11" Sr. SG/SF), and Anthony Naylor (6'-3" So. F) did not score. Garson did not play.

Maybe H-W needed a game like this just to remind them of how tough league play is going to be this year. If they play the way they did against Reseda during league, they can probably pretty much forget about a league title, and there's little doubt in our mind that Chaminade should dominate. On the other hand, if they can play the way they did for most of the Vegas Tournament, including three quarters of the Long Branch game (the first three) then they may be more than just a "Dark Horse" team this year, and could challenge for a Mission League title again.