Watson stands tall

Nick Christensen

Thursday, March 17, 2005 | 9:35 a.m.

"Our goal is for a state championship, and can't nothing stop us from doing that." -- Kashif Watson, Feb. 15

Bishop Gorman coach Grant Rice cringed as those words came out in print, knowing the target that his team has just for being Bishop Gorman got even larger for being a confident Bishop Gorman.

But Watson knew what the challenge he issued meant. And he stepped right up to it, scoring 38 points in the Gaels' quarterfinal against Mojave, adding 25 more in the semifinal against Durango, and scoring 18 in Bishop Gorman's Sunset Region final victory against Palo Verde.

The next week, he kept it up, scoring 21 in the state semifinal against Galena before scoring 28 points -- 16 in the fourth quarter -- as Bishop Gorman defeated Palo Verde for the state title.

The impetus came in January, after the Gaels lost two tough games in Los Angeles to two of Southern California's top teams.

"I think he knew it was his time," Rice said. "I think he realized it was his senior year, and he knew it was his time."

Watson wasn't always so confident. In prior years, he played in the shadow of older brother C.J., who now is playing for the University of Tennessee.

"I've had several talks with C.J. about how much more potential Chief has than he does, just because he's bigger, more athletic, more of a scorer," Rice said. "He just didn't ... it took him a little while to get there. He's definitely there now and going to have a great college career.

"He actually jokes about it. Even in practice when we're giving him a hard time, we start a 'You're not C.J.!' chant. It's a chant he's heard the last three years."

Even last season, when the Gaels were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, Watson wasn't playing to his potential.

"I've just been waiting for him these last couple of years to really come into his own," Rice said. "We knew that he had it in him. We saw signs in the spring and summer with improved play, and he definitely did carry us this year. He lived up to his potential, without a doubt."

Part of that, Rice said, was the play of his teammates, particularly junior guard Marcus Lawrence.

"The last three weeks of the season, he (Lawrence) really stepped aside and let Chief take the big shots and Marcus got him the ball," Rice said. "Chief is definitely in the public eye, the leader, he definitely gets the headlines, but I had a lot of guys who really stepped it up."

But it was Watson who carried Bishop Gorman in that state championship game against Palo Verde, the second time the Gaels had seen the Panthers in a week.

"You could tell in the first couple minutes of the game, he took a couple shots, missed some shots, he was attacking the boards, attacking the basketball," Rice said. "We were pretty confident when we saw how he came out."