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The Magazine
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Dateline Cerritos College—Norwalk, CA
2005 Rise or Fall Invitational Presented by RBK and Rodney Guillory Thursday December 22 and Friday December 23, 2005
In a format designed to showcase nationally ranked teams and some of the premier “Ballers” in the country, one thing was clear: Southern California is indeed the land of the Trojans. We just didn’t realize that the Trojans were from North College Hill (Cincinnati, Ohio)! The initial contest featured NCH v. Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, CA) with its 6’10” North Carolina signee Alex Stephenson. In the early going, Stephenson dominated with several ram-rattling two-hand slams. Then North College Hill’s O.J. Mayo (6’4”), the #1 ranked junior in the nation, took a nasty spill under his own basket. He eventually called a time-out and left the game. It was then evident why North College Hill will rise after this Invitational, as Bill Walker (6’6”), the #2 ranked junior in the nation took over. After a slow start, going 0 for 5 in his first attempts, Walker went on a tear: first hitting a three-pointer to bring the Trojans even at 20-20 with the Harvard-Westlake Wolverines, and following with three high flying dunks in the third quarter. Walker finished with 34 points and 15 rebounds. Mayo returned to contribute 30 points, revealing no lasting effects from his earlier spill. Stephenson finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds, and
Ryan Merkle, the 6’0” sophomore G, made four 3-pointers and finished with 14
points for Harvard-Westlake. The dynamic duo from North College Hill were aided
by 6’11” junior Keenan Ellis, and his ability to neutralize On Friday, December 23rd three games were played. The first matched Artesia of Lakewood, CA, (who previously defeated the pre-season top-ranked team in CA, Fairfax of Los Angeles,) with Pasadena and its 6’6” senior F, Kyle Austin. Malik Story, a 6’5” G committed to USC, led an attack that went on a 22-0 run in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Artesia finished with five players in double figures. Story had 14 points, Jason Pruitt, a 6’1” sophomore, had 13 while Derek Glasser 6’1 Sr., James Harden 6’5” Jr. and Shawntell Norman 6’11” Sr. each scored 11 in Artesia’s 66-53 victory—keeping the Pioneers’ record perfect at 10-0 The 2nd match up featured traditional power Long Beach Poly and the host school Centennial of Compton, Ca. the #18 ranked team in USA Today. Centennial took advantage of the Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits’ poor free throwing to eek out a 65-62 win. Long Beach was 1-7 from the charity stripe in the 4th quarter. JeVaugn Johnson 6’6” Sr. F had 13 points for Centennial, while the 5’8” Sr. Agustin Laguana of Poly led all scorers with 20 and 6’7” Jr. David Chlebowski added 11 for the Jackrabbits. The final game of the Rise and Fall Invitational was much
like the first, as North College Hill
Guard who is Hoopscoop’s top ranked player in the class of 2008 and the 2005 Calhisports State Freshman of the year. Dominguez took an early lead as Jennings and Senior Dezon Otis hit back-to-back 3’s to open the game. The North College Hill Trojan defense shut the door and went on a 42-8 run. The Trojans held Dominguez to 28% from the field, while filling it up at a 50% clip. O.J. Mayo signaled the onslaught with a thunderous dunk early in the first quarter and went on to score 29 points. Bill Walker finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Brandon Jennings led Dominguez with 17 points. |
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Stephenson as the game progressed. The final outcome was North College Hill 89,
Harvard-Westlake 62.
overcame
a slow start in route to total domination. This time the victim was the
Dominguez Don’s of Compton, Ca. by a final score of 91-57. The 6 time California
Division II State Champion Dominguez Don’s featured Brandon Jennings a 6’0” Soph.