SESSION I
10:30 a.m. Bishop Montgomery vs. Long Beach Wilson (girls)
12:00 p.m. La Jolla Country Day vs. Long Beach Poly (girls)
1:30 p.m. Price vs. Verbum Dei
SESSION II
3:30 p.m. Montclair Prep vs. Chaparral
5:00 p.m. Bishop Montgomery vs. Harvard Westlake
6:30 p.m. Garces vs. Eisenhower
8:00 p.m. Miami Christian vs. Fairfax
The day starts with two outstanding girls’ games with three-time Division III state champs Bishop Montgomery (28-5 last season) facing Long Beach Wilson at 10:30 and La Jolla Country Day (27-5) playing Long Beach Poly (33-2) at noon.
Noelle Quinn leads Bishop Montgomery. She was L.A. Times Player of the Year and Division III MVP.
La Jolla Country Day is led Candice Wiggins, sister of Alan Wiggins Jr. She averaged 30.3 points and 13 rebounds per game. She is also a standout in volleyball and track. She was Cal Hi Athlete of the Year and Division V Player of the Year. County Day has won the last two state titles and are preseason #10 in USA Today’s West Rankings.
Long Beach Poly is ranked preseason #9 in USA Today’s West Rankings and is #30 preseason by Student Sports.
Price faces Verbum Dei in the first boy’s game at 1:30. Price (31-6 last season) became only the second team in state history to win three consecutive boys’ basketball championships as Oscar Edwards scored 24 points in a 72-66 win over San Francisco University in the Division V title game. Price, who won the recent Beverly Hills Tournament, is led by Edwards, Carl Wilson, Derrick Williams and Schuyler McKay. Verbum Dei won the Division V title in 1998 and 1999. They are led by Long Beach Poly transfer Mike Pagan. Amir Johnson, Mike Davis, Kelsey Barrs, Dametreas Doby and Sheldon Wilson are other key players
Montclair Prep faces Chaparral in the first game of session II. The game features
6-1 sophomore guard Dwain Williams, Brent Chodola and Kurt Oliver from Chaparral. Williams played in the event last season as a freshman for Fresno (CA) San Joanquin Memorial. Nick Stiggers recently left Montclair Prep, but there is still plenty of returning talent. Junior forward Jeff Fahnbullen is one of the top West Coast frontcourt players in the class of 2004. 6-4 athletic senior Anthony Davis and 6-1 point guard Mark Johnson are getting some Division I looks. 6-3 senior Yugoslavian Slobodon Civijovic, an excellent student with a 3.8 GPA, has received looks from Division II and NAIA schools.
Bishop Montgomery won the Division III crown in 2000 and 2001 as they were led by
the Craven twins, Errick and Derrick, who are now at USC. They finished one game short of the state finals as they lost to runner-up Compton Centennial 56-47 to finish 26-7 overall last season. They are led by Stanford recruit Fred Washington, Ryan Howard and Brandon Peace. They recently won the La Canada Championship as Peace and Washington were co-MVPs.
The Knights will face Harvard-Westlake, who is led by Bryce Taylor, who averaged 22.5 points per game last season. His father, Brian, played in the ABA and NBA. Taylor is averaging 27.3 points a game so far this season. Junior Ed White, Bobby Weinberger Harris Chung and Evan Harris are also talented teammates. They recently finished runner-ups in the Millennium I Championship in the Holiday Prep Classic to San Diego Horizon, losing 80-77 in double overtime.
Junior star center Robert Swift leads Garces (29-5), who won the recent Buchanan-Clovis West Tournament in Fresno. 6-2 point guard Kyle Shiloh, who signed with Nevada, is a good perimeter player and Christian Martin and Zach Ryan are capable scorers. Anthony Esparza and Moochie Carillo are also key players for the Rams. They will face Eisenhower, who recently won the consolation championship of the Westchester Tip-Off Tournament. The Eisenhower Eagles are led by Boston College signee Sean Marshall, Christian Massengale, Eliseo Varela and Deonte Nelson. They recently finished fifth in the Millennium I Championship in the Holiday Prep Classic in Las Vegas.
In the final contest, Fairfax meets Miami Christian. Fairfax is led by Jamal Boykin, Joe Shipp, Alex Bausley, Jason Gilzene and Kevin Bell. Bell, who was the MVP of the recent Redondo Union 51st Annual Pacific Shores Tournament and the Iolani Classic, signed with Louisiana-Lafayette. Gilzene inked with Cal State Sacramento. Fairfax is College Basketball News’ #10 team. Miami Christian (38-2 last season) completed the winningest boys' basketball season ever for a Florida team by beating Bronson (27-9) 79-49 to win the Class 1A state championship. They lost Carlos Rivera, the tournament MVP and point guard Jose Juan Barea, but return Jesus Verdejo, who had 18 points, six rebounds and three steals in the championship game and was named to the Class 1A all-tournament team. Transfer Guillermo Diaz recently signed with Miami of Florida. Miami Christian was ranked second in USA Today’s top 25 before losing twice in the Iolani Classic.