Top high school students shine in Nike tournament

Wednesday, January 20, 1999

Top high school students shine in Nike tournament

BASKETBALL: Prospective college recruits showcase talents in
recent contest

By Greg Lewis

Daily Bruin Staff

The Nike Dream Classic high school basketball tournament was
supposed to feature the Dominguez-Mater Dei showdown. Instead,
before the two teams even got a chance to take the floor, the
tournament became the Casey Jacobsen show.

Jacobsen of Glendora High School broke the tournament record
that he set last year of 38 points with his 43-point outburst
against Capistrano Valley. Jacobsen ended up with 43 points,
including four of seven from behind the three-point arc, and seven
rebounds while leading his Glendora Tartans to a 66-48 victory over
the Capistrano Valley Cougars.

"It’s great to play against top teams like today," said the
Stanford-bound Jacobsen. "(Southern Cal signee) Nate Hair is a real
good player, I want to play against the best, and Capistrano Valley
was a tough team."

In the first game of the tournament, Redondo Union beat up on
Inglewood 55-41. In that game, 6 foot 9 inch junior center Andrew
Zahn from Redondo Union showed off his polished low-post game by
dropping in 21 points and grabbing 16 boards. Inglewood had no
answer for the big man inside who is currently considering signing
with UCLA.

In the second game, Long Beach Jordan defeated Verbum Dei in a
66-65 overtime thriller. Verbum Dei point guard Marlon Parmer
impressed the crowd with fancy dribbling and slashing drives.
Junior forward and UCLA target Travon Bryant showed off his
athleticism all game, battling with standout Verbum Dei forward
Dalron Johnson.

But the story of the game was the final minute and the overtime.
With eight seconds on the clock, Verbum Dei had a two point lead
and the ball. They then missed two free throws, and Long Beach
Jordan ran the ball down to their end of the court where Darren
Peterson was fouled. Peterson, with his team down by two and four
seconds on the clock, missed both of his free throws. Long Beach
guard Eric Gathrite grabbed the ball after a mad scramble and threw
in an off-balance baseline jumper with one second left to send the
contest into overtime.

Long Beach pulled away in overtime behind Parmer’s leadership,
but Verbum Dei made it close in the last minute, missing a lay-up
at the buzzer

The Simi Valley-Fairfax matchup paired the slow-down, zone
defense of the Simi Valley Pioneers against the dynamic, athletic
Fairfax Lions.

Pioneer head coach Dean Bradshaw’s passive defense and
deliberate offense gave the Lions fits. The Pioneers ran their
offense through post man Rafael Berumen. The 6-foot-9 Berumen, who
is headed to New Mexico, ended up scoring almost all 21 of his
points in the paint and garnered player of the game honors.

In the fourth game of the holiday tournament, Manual Arts downed
a strong Long Beach Poly team 72-63. Manual Arts guard James Wright
proved to be the difference in the end. Wright consistently pushed
the tempo of the game faster and eventually it got too fast for the
Poly Jackrabbits.

Wright also was effective on defense against highly recruited
5-foot-9 junior point guard Wesley "The Wizard" Stokes. Stokes,
along with Long Beach Jordan’s Bryant, were the two main targets
for UCLA in the junior class at the tournament.

The fifth game was the Jacobsen game. Capistrano Valley’s JJ
Sola also had strong effort, but Capistrano’s rough and tough
defense could not contain Jacobsen’s offense.

In the marquee matchup of the day, Compton-Dominguez High, the
12th ranked team in the country, grappled with 10th ranked Mater
Dei.

All 7,000 fans were focused on the star-studded Dominguez Dons,
the host team of the tournament. The Don’s main attraction is
7-foot center Tyson Chandler. Chandler has already entertained
thoughts of jumping straight to the NBA, but has entertained just
as many thoughts of joining the Bruins in Westwood. Don point guard
Marcus Moore kept the momentum of the game turned towards Dominguez
until the final minute of the game.

With 1:35 on the clock, Dominguez held a 58-53 lead and the
ball. Mater Dei guard Steve Scoggin then ripped the ball away from
Moore and launched a three pointer to pull his team to within two.
The Monarchs’ Cedric Bozeman then made a driving lay-up to tie up
the score. Dominguez got the ball back and called a time-out –
unfortunately the Dons didn’t have any left.

Both of Scoggin’s technical free throws fell short, keeping the
tie intact. Moore then drove the length of the court and dished off
to forward Keith Kincade who layed the ball up and in. The Monarchs
then brought the ball up again, and Scoggin threw up a five footer
which Chandler slapped back to half court with four seconds left to
seal the Dominguez victory.

In the tournament finale, City Section powerhouse Crenshaw, led
by junior guard EJ Harris, battled Compton star Tito Maddox. Maddox
wowed the crowd all game with fancy dribbling and creative passing,
but Harris ended up being the steadying force in the Cougars
victory. BAHMAN FARAHDEL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Casey Jacobsen of Glendora High (right) grabs a rebound away
from Charles Cangelosi of Capistrano Valley High.

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