jason day manual v. fairfax

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Jason Day: Manual Arts 74,
Fairfax 58--(January 22, 1998)

Boy, it sure has been tough today getting City Section high school scores. The LA Times didn't publish any today, and coaches we know have been scrambling all morning on the phones to find out who won and who lost. One of the more important games which took place yesterday in the Coastal Conference was this one between Manual and Fairfax, and we know that Coach Jim Pelino over at Pali High will appreciate the info on this game, and so will a whole lot of other people interested in the Coastal Conference of LA City Section CIF. Thanks to Jason for being there and sending this one in. And remember, Jason can be reached at elgee333@pacbell.net, so if you want to complain or send props, that's the place.

MANUAL OVERPOWERS FAIRFAX 74-58

by Jason Day

I got to this City Section matchup, played at Fairfax High, at the end of the 1^st quarter (take Fairfax North Jason, not LaCienega). Anyway, the handwriting was already on the wall. By half-time Fairfax trailed by 15, 40-25

The Fairfax team is facing one of the harshest situations in team sports: Injuries to key players. Without Joe Shipp (6’-5" Jr. SG/SF/PF), who has missed the season thus far due to a broken bone in his foot, and Tommie Johnson (6’4 SO SG/SF), who recently broke a bone in the opposite foot, the Lions are missing a big chunk of their inside game, not to mention a grip on offense.

It’s not that the rest of the team is without talent and/or heart. On the contrary, Fairfax can still field a formidable team led by Greg Jefferson (6’-5 Sr SG/F), and Jason Morrissette (6’-4 So. SG/F) on the wings and inside, and a guard trio of Stanley Thorne (5'-10" Jr. PG), Flinder Boyd (6'-0" Sr. PG/SG), and Ismael Torres (6'-2" So SG/SF), whose minutes have gone up significantly with Johnson sidelined. With the promising Scottie Stern' (6’-4" So. SF) great shooting and Diondre Carter (6’-9" Sr C)--who’s still developing, but you can’t teach tall-- coming off the bench, this ain’t no chump team. They proved their mettle at the MLK this past Monday, when they jumped all over Long Beach Poly, but couldn’t hold on and lost in overtime. In that one, Poly had to fire up the inside play of their big men and that was the difference.

Last night’s foe, the Manual Arts Toilers, have exactly the kind of team that Fairfax is going to have big trouble with until Shipp and Johnson can get back. Big, athletic, quick, with aggressive interior defense.

Manual’s Brandon Moorer (6’-7" Jr SF/PF), had a field day inside. He’s a slim kid, but very quick and agile, and he doesn’t take kindly to little people coming into his paint. Oh, and he can get that 6’7 frame up in the air with little effort. Against Westchester last Friday, he showed glimpses of his ability, particularly on defense. But Westchester had Bluthenthal, Osborne, Dent, et al. Fairfax had no one to stop this kid in this one. He finished with 20 points, 7 boards, 3 blocks, and two assists.

Moorer’s front court mates, the much improved Johnny Hardwick (6’9 Jr C), and leaper extraordinaire, Ricky Duff (6’6 Sr PF) also had a fairly easy night. Duff, continuing a trend that his coach, Randolph Simpson, questioned after the Westchester game, spent a lot of time on the perimeter taking jumpers. Some of which went in. The kid CAN shoot from out there, but there’s not a more exciting leaper in the City. Period. This young man elevates with only the slightest knee flex, the tiniest flick of the toes, a serious glass cleaner. He finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and four blocked shots. Yep, he’s a defender of the paint too.

Hardwick’s game was the opposite of his efforts against Westchester Friday. In that one he came out fired up in the first half and disappeared in the second. In this one he was missing in action for the first and just went "off" in the second. He scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half, eight of those on four monster dunks that showed his agility and serious hops. One of the dunks was my favorite kind. Big man jogs to the top of the key, catches the eye of the wing man with the ball, accelerates to the foul line, catches the pass, elevates, AND WALKS UP THE CHEST OF THE DEFENDER TO SMASH GLASS. Damn!!!

The Toilers also got significant contributions from junior point guard, James "Mookie" Wright, who finished with 8 points, and hit 8-8 from the free-throw line, and he had 8 assists; Larry Dillingham (6’-2" Jr G) only 2 points, but 6 assists, 3 steals, and 2 boards; and Cuentin Witherspoon (6’-4" Sr SG/SF) had 10 points. Curtis Millage (5’8 Jr. PG) also added 8 points, with two 3-pointers.

Facing all of that AND a well practiced zone, Fairfax had to count on the aggressive inside play of Morrissette (19 points, 5 boards, 2 steals) and Jefferson (11 points, 8 boards, 4 blocks), and the outside shooting of Boyd and Thorne. Problem. Most of everything Thorne shot didn’t start falling until it was too late. He had 3 points in the first half and finished with 11 (3-3’s). Boyd couldn’t contribute much on the scoreboard either. The young man, who can only be described as being in a shooting slump for awhile now, just couldn’t find the range again. He had 6 point, one in the whole second half. A young man wearing number 15 (Anthony Compton, who I assume has recently moved up from JV) made the most of his new found minutes by chipping in 7 points, 2 or 3 boards, and a steal. Torres couldn’t contribute much on the offensive end either. While he did a pretty good job taking care of the ball, he could only muster 2 points for the cause.

The Lions only other scoring threat, Stern, could not play due to the flu. Carter played limited minutes in this one.

So Manual didn’t face the promising "sleeper" team that Fairfax was expected to field at the beginning of the season. But remember, Manual is considered by many as another one of those "sleepers". A team that can sneak up on the unwary opponent that’s just a little overconfident, or unprepared. So I don’t want to take anything away from Manual in this victory. But I sure would like to see Fairfax play one game at full strength. I’ll bet they would too.

See ya later.

Jason Day