Gaels outmuscled in title match

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Dec. 23, 1999 | 9:38 a.m.

California's Long Beach Poly High has long been known as a football power, producing such current and former NFL luminaries as Willie McGinest, Gene Washington and Tony Hill.

So it should come as no surprise that in the Jackrabbits' biggest basketball game of the year to date -- Wednesday night's Reebok Holiday Prep Classic Millennium Cup championship at Green Valley -- the club from Long Beach flexed its muscles.

Packing it in defensively on Bishop Gorman's big men and bodying up on the Gaels' guards, the Jackrabbits rolled to a 56-36 win to claim the event's premier trophy.

"I thought we got outmuscled," Bishop Gorman coach Jeff Wagonseller said. "They took us out of out of our game ... and our guards had a hard time penetrating.

"We have to get stronger if we're going to compete at this level."

As they did throughout their four tournament games, the Jackrabbits (7-1) won in a relatively ugly manner, forcing their opponents into 22 turnovers but committing 14 themselves.

But with eventual tournament MVP Wesley Stokes, an early signee with Missouri, running the point, Poly overcame its errors to blow out Nevada's No. 1-ranked team.

"We came out here and ran through every team we played," said Stokes, who scored a game-high 12 points and dished out four assists. "We expected to run through all these teams. No team out here can hang with us."

The Gaels (9-2) managed to hang around for a while, trailing just 18-15 with one minute remaining in an extremely sloppy first half that saw the two clubs combine for 20 turnovers and 29 missed shots.

But a 3-pointer by Adrian Martin and a jumper by Stokes in the half's closing seconds extended the Poly lead to seven points, and Gorman never got closer.

The Jackrabbits methodically stretched their advantage in the second half, utilizing a front line that features three 6-4 forwards and a 6-8 center.

"We lost to the better team tonight," Wagonseller said. "We don't see that much defensive pressure around here."

Pressured on the perimeter by Poly's quick guards, the Gaels were unable to find 6-9 center Jason Carter in the paint save for a few occasions, with the junior managing just 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting.

"We didn't want the big man to get many looks at the basketball," Stokes said. The key to our defense is to make the other team's guards win the ballgame."

Throughout the contest, Gorman's guards found virtually no room for penetration in the paint, leaving the 3-point shot as their only viable option nearly every time downcourt. The results proved to be disastrous, with the Gaels making just 1-of-17 3-point tries.

"We came out and played hard, but it seemed like they countered everything we did," Gorman guard Dinard Taylor said.

Despite the loss, the Gaels come away from the tournament with solid experience, and a world of confidence, after beating three tough national opponents: Alabama's Ramsay High, Texas' Awty International and Kentucky's Pleasure Ridge Park.

"This is a big step for us," Gorman forward Paul Bania said. "We've never done this well in a tournament before, so we're real happy."

On Monday, the Gaels will begin play at their second holiday tournament, Wyoming's Gillette Energy Classic. And when they return, they'll do so with their sights set firmly on the season's No. 1 goal -- winning the 1999 4A state title.

"I told the kids, 'We won three games here. That's (what we need at state) to win a state championship,' " Wagonseller said.