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SoCal Prep Tournament News

ARC League Tournament:
Brea Olinda, Santa Clara, & NoHo--(November 2, 1997)

Just got back from about 8 hours of solid varsity level basketball at the ARC Varsity League Playoffs held at North Hollywood this afternoon and tonight (Sunday, 11/2). Yesterday, a strong Brea Olinda squad defeated Harvard-Westlake to advance to the semi-finals today. I'm not sure who North Hollywood and Brea Olinda beat yesterday, but they were there also today, as was the ARC Blazers.

Today's semis matched up Santa Clara and North Hollywood in the first game, and ARC Blazers vs. Brea-Olinda

Some notes on the games. . .

1st Semi: Santa Clara 55 vs. North Hollywood 52

Santa Clara is a small, Division V CIF school located in Oxnard. They defeated Pasadena Poly last year in the Southern California CIF Southern Region Finals to advance to the State Championship round, where they were defeated in the semi's. They have a small enrollment, but it must be made up of all athletes, because this team is very talented.

North Hollywood is a public LA Unified School District school, coached by Rob Bloom. We've already done a preview of this team, but they had some new additions (and one no-show) so we'll give you the rosters below:

Here is the roster, and some notes on the Santa Clara team:

Ryan McGill (6'-3" SG/F)-- a very smart player, not particularly muscular, but quick, and with nice hands and a good j out to about 15'. He got a whole lot more physical during the second game against Brea Olinda

Scott Sorich (6'-2" F)--Sorich's got good speed, nice foot work, a great jump stop shot, and was effective from about 12-15 feet out.

Nick Jones (6'-3" F) for a large guy, he's got a very nice first step to the hole, and can effectively break down a d off the dribble. He's got some of the best defensive footwork around and if he can get inside a bit more has the potential to also be a top prospect at some smaller D-I schools.

Jason Angel (5'-7"? PG)--Jason alternated at the point, and was most effective in the second game we saw (the Championship against Kyle Dodd (5'11" PG Jr. Brea Olinda)--he was really the only player on Santa Clara who could hang with Dodd. But more about that later.

Mel Angel (6'-0" SG)--has very nice penetration, is a bit skinny and will need to bulk up to really do some damage. He only played in the first game against North Hollywood. Santa Clara decided that it had too many players to effectively sub without hurting them on the roster, so they held out two players from each game. Mel was very good though in the first game, and has a nice move to the basket and can finish well.

BJ Ward (6'-1" SG/PG)-- BJ played very well and with Nick Jones and Tim Scott, they are the real sparks of this team. BJ didn't really handle the point very much; Tim Scott and Angel pretty much shared that duty.

Tim Scott (5'-8" Jr. PG)--Tim did not play varsity last year and is up from the JV. He's got the potential to be a major top prospect. Has a great handle, is a sort of pass first type of PG, can pass left as well as right, has a great first step to the basket, and I don't think I saw a single turnover from him in either game. He can penetrate, and had not much trouble with North Hollywood. He had some major trouble from Brea Olinda, but again, more on that later.

Anthony Camper--(5'8") he was very quick, played some very nice defense, and can jump. Frankly I don't recall much from him, but then I was really focusing on Ward, Scott and Jones.

Santa Clara also had three players who switched up on the rosters--Kenny Mercer played in the first game, and seemed like a good, solid and fundamental player; he sat out the championship, while Mike Madrigal and Gabe Martinez played the championship after sitting out the semis. Each of these players was fine, and we don't mean to slight them,but they appeared to be more role players in these games. Madrigal played very aggressive defense, diving for a few loose balls, and Martinez had a nice j which he connected on and some good rebounding.

North Hollywood's players:

DeJon Lee(5'-10" Sr. PG)-- a no-show for this tourney

Arsen ??(still don't know his last name--will get it from Bloom tomorrow) (Sr. 5'-9")--we originally reported that he was only 5'-6"--that was wrong. This guy ought to be called "felony", because he's like a mini-Jason Kidd. He actually looks like Kidd and is very quick, and played the point for NH in DeJon's absence)--there's not much bad to say about him, and he can drive, push the ball up and penetrate. However, like a lot of smaller points, he has a tendency to not want to finish after making some penetration, and he needs to be a bit more aggressive after committing to the drive. He looks for the dish a bit too often for my liking, but by the end of the season, we'd predict that he'll be a pretty nice small D-I or D-II prospect for somebody. This kid is smart and aggressive, and pretty quick.

Keron Wilkerson (6'6" Sr. F)- We originally had him at 6'-3", but he's grown a bit over the summer. Still the star of the team, and he had about 4 three's. He needs to work on his defense, and he's a bit thin to really get in and bang, but on a different, bigger team, he'd make a very nice 2 guard. He's a tremendous shooter, can get good penetration, and was very effective against Ryan McGill in the first game.

Chinnua Wright (6'3 Sr. F)- This kid is really a wide body type of player, who loves to mix it up under the boards. He was very good under the basket, and has nice hands and a quick penetration to the basket. Big and strong, great rebounder, powerful in the post, although he really didn't see any time there today.

Edward Baisden- (6'7" Sr. C)-- we also had him listed originally at only 6'2" and that had to be a typo, because he's a heck of a lot bigger than that. Maybe not a full 6'6", but he's sure seemed close to it. In the first 4 minutes of the game, this kid took two charges (only one of which got called as a charge on the other player), and that gives you some idea of how this guy likes to play: rough an inside. He's a very smart player, agile and surprisingly quick for a big guy.

The rest of the North Hollywood squad (some I just didn't take notes on, but we'll have more on them during the season):

Jon Hicks (6'-2" Sr. SG/F)
Phillip Warez (6'1 Sr. SG)
Eric Roller - (6'-3" Soph. F/C)--the real surprise of the game today. He's a big kid, and has got to weigh about 220lbs. He's only 15 years old, plays pretty good defense, and can actually get up and down the court with the quicker, smaller guys. If he can shed a few pounds, he could be really dangerous
Greg Roller - Sr. 6'0-- Eric's brother, but a much slimmer version. A very quiet kid.
Ronnell Johnson (5'-7"Jr. G)
J.R. McKissick - (6'-2" Jr. SG/F)
Tony Galvan - (6'-1" Sr. F)--this guy will need to develop some better footwork and better defense. He has good hands, and can shoot the ball well
Jeff Porter - (6'-1" Sr. F)
Kenny Harris - (5'-11 Sr. G)
Chris Maloof - (6'-2" Sr.)

The game:

This game was very close for much of the first half. Keron, Chinnua and Arsen were the major news for NH, but the Santa Clara squad was a lot more athletic, and this became apparent from the moment the subs were put into the game. The ARC formula requires that the starters play the first 8 minutes, and then the subs come into the game for 8 minutes, and then the first group again subs in for the last 4 minutes of the first half and the first 4 minutes of the second half. Another 8 minute sub is done, and then the last four minutes of the game is free subs. It's stop clock only during the last two minutes of the game. Santa Clara led off with a combination of Ryan McGill, Scott Sorich, Tim Scott, Harper and Camper, subbing Nick Jones, Jason Angel, Mel Angel, BJ and Kenny Mercer. By the end of the game though, the combination was really down to McGill, Sorich, Jones, BJ and Tim Scott. Scott was the most impressive Santa Clara player on the floor, constantly pushing the ball, moving left and right almost at will. As noted above, the big surprise for NH was Eric Roller, a kid who doesn't look like he should be very fast or good, but who was a dominant force under the boards and who can really use his body very effectively; and there's lots of body to use. The biggest surprise is that he can really run pretty fast; not to be repetitive, but he should lose some weight. Keron was the big star for NH, and drained a bunch of threes. He's pretty fast, and has a very sweet J shot from all the way out to about 25 ft. He seems to prefer the perimeter rather than the inside game.

While the lead changed hands several times, NH was down by almost 10 with less than two minutes to go. Then Keron hit a few big shots, and with only 8 seconds left to go, it was a three point game; NH had the ball in it's own frontcourt. NH called a double screen play, with Keron the intended recipient, but Santa Clara's defense was really too good, and Keron never got the ball for that last shot, so Santa Clara advanced to the finals.

In the other semi final game, ARC Blazers, featuring a bunch of guys from South Pasadena, Muir Pasadena and other schools went up against Brea Olinda High's Varsity (with one JV player added).

The rosters:

ARC Blazers--coached by Harvey Needleman-- this team played at the Fall Hoops Spectacular in Long Beach, and played in Vegas. It's been around a while, but they were missing their biggest player today, Marcus Roberson,(6'-2" Fr. SG Los Angeles Crenshaw).

Players:

Jeff Washington (PG)--a good handle
Nat Johnson (6'-6" F) he's an exchange student from Switzerland--very nice j
Joey Simmons (6'-2" F)--he's not particularly quick, and should probably avoid trying the cross-over J, but is a real widebody and can do some damage in close from the baseline and inside
Jawah Carter--(G/PG)--big time cuts to the hole, very nice J, and an overall fun player to watch
Matt Lawler--a nice player, but a bit of a hot head when things aren't going well. Nice footwork
Andrew Bloomfield-- a nice player, aggressive, but needs to develop speed
Koko Archibong (Jr. Pasadea Poly)
Thomas Gloor-- impact inside, nice J
No Shows: Marcus Roberson, Joe Baheme

Brea Olinda:

Kyle Dodd( 5'-11" Jr. PG)
Jeff Mason (6'-6" Sr. PF/C)
Rick Boehm (6'-4" Sr PF/C)
Sean Hefferly (6'-2" Sr SF)
Daniel Kalcevich (6'-0" Sr. SG)
_______Wilber (6'-1" Soph--JV Player)--sorry, didn't catch his first name, but he was a fine player
Jerett Skrifvars (6'-3" Jr. SG/SF)
Reid Carlson (6'-3" Sr. SG)
Andy Mogensen (6'-4" Sr SF)

No shows:

Chris McMillan (5'-10" Sr. PG)--don't know why he wasn't here, but if he's as good as they say, it'll be a shame if the Brea Olinda coach doesn't play both he and Dodd together, because that would be a truly unstoppable combination
Rasuli Webster (6'-4" Sr SF)--we were told he's still playing football
Deonta Birdsong (5'-10" Jr PG)
Andre Pennington (5'-10" Sr PG)
Kirk Reimer (6'-2", Soph. PF/C)
Michael Davern (6'-3" Soph.SF)

I find it hard to believe that Brea Olinda has this much talent at the point position (from the no-show roster) but if they do, they'll be scary fast and frighteningly good this year. In the ARC league, because of CIF restrictions, high school coaches are not allowed to coach their teams, and so the coaching duties for the ARC Championship playoffs fell to Kyle Dodd's father, who did a pretty credible job. But then he had a lot to work with.

The game: Brea Olinda 61, ARC Blazers 50

The game was never really in doubt, and at one point the Brea Olinda squad led by almost 20. The ARC team was not as bad as the score would indicate, its just that the Brea Olinda squad was so much more cohesive and avoided playing the one-on-one game that the ARC team seemed to favor. Again, without a doubt, Dodd was the star of this team, and if McMillan is as good as he's supposed to be it'll sort of be a shame, because Kyle Dodd is going to be a major top prospect. He's played on the BWBA (Branch West Basketball Association) tournament team with BWBA II (Jimmy Miggins, Eric Estevan, Marqui Worthy, Zamiro Bennem, Kyle Dodd), and there's not much this guy can't do. He's got a great handle on the ball, is built sort of slight from the waist down, with very thin but muscularly strong legs (sort of like a wiry cyclist or climber), and he's got about the quickest foot speed and change of direction of any point guard at his level. With great acceleration he can hesitate and then break down a defense very effectively. If we sound high on him, we are. He was truly a lot of fun to watch, because in addition to being smart, athletic and a player with great defensive skills, on offense you were never sure where he was going to go--left, right, dish, inside, penetrate up on the glass. . . He really can do it all.

The Championship:

Brea Olinda 63, Santa Clara 52

It really was not as close as the score would indicate. The great thing about this game was getting to watch Dodd go one on one against Angel, who was the only other player on the floor who could keep up with him. Unfortunately, on the matchup the other way, Dodd was guarding another player, usually Tim Scott, who seemed like a better offensive point than did Jason Angel. The Championship was a bit marred by an injury to BJ, who in the opening few minutes of the second half, twisted his ankle and went down very hard. Ryan McGill played very well, getting a lot of boards, and getting inside on offense, and hitting a few key three's. Nick Jones hit very well from the baseline, but couldn't seem to buy a lay-up, and was getting hammered by some of the bigger and more physical Olinda players. Brea's team, with the exception of Dodd, and perhaps Hefferly (who's built pretty thin), all look like they've spent a lot of time pressing some major weights; they could all be football players, and looked pretty pumped, especially most of the arms.

But the big story in this game, as in the semi, was Dodd, who entertained and scored about 28 points. He drove left, he drove right, he had about 5 steals, about 13 assists, and played most of the game (because there were only 9 on the squad he stayed in except for a short breather). A very exciting player to watch.

I'm sure that we could say more about all of these guys, and to those of you who think you played better, or that we're crazy in our assessment or analysis, feel free to e-mail us and let us know, especially those we've seemed to overlook; it's not intentional, and we'll be certain to catch you guys later in the season and make up for any hurt feelings or stepped-on toes.

All in all A great day of basketball.

Oh yeah, also got to see the ARC-14's II beat the ARC-13's II team in a game that was never close. Standouts there were David Gale (with three steals and 14 assists), Charlie Kranzdorf, who played very aggressive defense, and Romel Camacho, nephew of Brian Camacho, who alternated with Gale at point. And the ARC Girls' League Championship game was played, and in another game that came down to the wire, the Buena High Girls' Varsity defeated the San Gabriel Valley Girls' Varsity.

Closing note: Look for Brea Olinda to take its league this year, NH to take their league, Santa Clara to again go to the regional finals (where I'm betting they see Montclair in the regional finals, with Montclair winning--although we're told there's actually a difference between Div 5AA (Montclair's division) and Div 5B (which is what someone tonight told me Santa Clara is in)--I can't verify this tonight, and the CIF site says there's only one "Division 5" Champion, so somebody's wrong and somebody's right.

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