Story Created:
Feb 17, 2010 at 2:17 PM PST
Story Updated:
Feb 17, 2010 at 2:17 PM PST
Lincoln High School wasn’t done any favors when it came to the City Section Division I boys basketball playoffs.
Sure the Tigers got in, but as the No. 16 and final seed, what that got them was almost certain defeat thanks to a first-round meeting with powerhouse Westchester Friday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.
The Northern League school enters the contest with a 7-10 mark, which pales in comparison to the 23-3 of the defending State Division I champion Comets, ranked second in the state and 17th nationally this year by maxpreps.com. They’ve played a nationally-regarded schedule and compete in the tougher Western League against the likes of Fairfax and Palisades.
While Lincoln has a potent offensive threat in Willie McWilliams, averaging 17.9 points per game, it still looks to be overmatched against Westchester.
In guards Jordin Mayes and Denzel Douglas, the Comets have two of the section’s best. Inside, they rely on 6-6 Dwayne Polee and 6-8 Reggie Murphy.
Lincoln isn’t the only area team to face what appears to be overwhelming odds in the Division I playoffs.
Garfield (15-5) is at No. 4 Washington Prep (20-6) and South Gate (9-17) is at No. 3 Crenshaw (19-3).
Garfield is a small, scrappy team that played Jordan tough twice during Eastern League play.
The Bulldogs will need to find a way to contain Washington Prep junior guard Scott Michaelyn, who averages 18.8 points, 4.2 assists and 2.9 steals per game.
The Generals also feature junior point guard Chris Brown, who averages 10.9 points and 4.8 assists per game, and 6-5 post player J.B. Walker, who averages 9.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots per game.
Garfield is led by Agustin Alcantar, David Laroue and Harim Coronado. Laroue is a fine 3-point shooter.
South Gate’s main scorer is junior David Rueda, who averages 11.8 per contest. Sophomore Jose Medrano averages 9.1 and junior Christopher Rodriguez 8.3.
In the Division II playoffs, South East (11-12) is at No. 4 University (16-13), Bravo (15-8) is at No. 3 Gardena (16-9) and Bell (12-11) is at No. 7 San Pedro (16-10).
South East could be a threat if 6-3 senior Brian Gonzalez, averaging 20.4 points per game, is on. Junior Richie De La Cruz averages 15.5 points and sophomore Peter Rodriguez 12.9 for the Jaguars.
Bravo is led by senior forward Josh Manlang, who averages 14.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
Leading the way for Bell is junior center Jonathan Cortez (10.7) and senior guard Charlie Diaz (10.5).
In Division 3, No. 9 Roosevelt (7-16) is at No. 8 West Adams Prep (12-8), East Valley (11-5) is at No. 4 Huntington Park (16-16), Eagle Rock (3-12) is at No. 3 Hamilton (11-14) and North Hollywood is at No. 7 Franklin (17-8), the Northern League champion.
Roosevelt has balanced scoring with senior Alan Rosas (10.0), Manny Ayon (8.7) and Alan Ramirez (6.7) leading the way.
Huntington Park is paced by 6-2 senior Michael Dominguez, averaging 17.0 points per game, and 5-10 senior Francisco Iturbe, averaging 7.5. Dominguez, who specializes in the 3-point shot, has hit 75 this year.
Franklin is led by senior guard Zeve Sanderson, who averages 22.4 points per game. He averages 3.3 3-point baskets per contest.
Julio Duarte averages 12.8 points per game, while Alex Perea (7.6) and Anthony Quiroz (7.4) rank one-two in the Northern League in rebounding.
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