June 30, 2008
28 teams knew their way to San Jose (State)
The two-day 2008 San Jose State Team Camp concluded Sunday afternoon and it was an East Bay team victorious at the end.
The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, the beach was issuing its siren call but neither chirping nor rays nor lapping water could deter us from our appointed rounds. Call our judgment into question but we were in dire need of a hoops viewing fix and our attendance in the audience at San Jose State’s Team Camp did the trick.
The finals pitted the Oak Ridge Trojans out of El Dorado Hills against Berkeley’s St. Mary’s High. At the end of a well-played first half, Oak Ridge led the Panthers 27-21. St. Mary’s was applying its usual pressure defense but Oak Ridge maintained composure.
At the 15:08 mark of the second half, St. Mary’s had forged a 31-31 tie.
With 6:44 remaining, the Panthers edged ahead of their brethren to the north 43-40. St. Mary’s then bumped the lead even further until it was 52-46 with less than two minutes to go and eventually triumphed 57-51.
To its credit, the Oak Ridge squad never backed down throughout the game. However, the Trojans committed a greater number of turnovers in the second half as the speed and quickness of St. Mary’s resulted in getting to passes that the Oak Ridge players probably are able to complete against most other opponents.
Aalim Moor was named the San Jose State Team Camp ‘Most Valuable Player’
Panther point Aalim Moor was named the most valuable player of the event. There were multiple times where maintaining his patience and keeping his head up on dribble-drives resulted in pick-and-roll passes to teammates for layups. The Lee brothers, Dominique and Demetrius, were also instrumental in St. Mary’s winning the tourney due to their length and athleticism.
In the consolation game, Valley Christian topped James Logan 52-47, led by Max Hooper’s 24 points and the overall play of Tim Pierce.
Aalim Moor
St. Mary’s beat Valley Christian to reach the title game. As against Oak Ridge, the Panthers were down after the first 20 minutes by a 21-19 score. The game remained tight and was tied with nine minutes remaining. It was at that point that St. Mary’s began moving ahead of the Warriors. With 3:16 on the clock, it was an eight-point differential, 42-34, and the game concluded in St. Mary’s favor, 44-36. Hooper scored 22 in that one.
Harbor High, out of Santa Cruz, beat Modesto Christian in one of the early games but it was a Crusader contingent without stalwart Reeves Nelson as sometimes happens during summer play.
One aspect about this weekend to keep in mind is that many of the various coaches were utilizing the opportunity to prep their teams for next season -- playing some reserves who saw little action last high school season and also inserting newcomers to the varsity into games.
Here were the participating teams:
St. Mary’s (Berkeley)
Burlingame
James Logan
Bakersfield South
North Monterey County
Valley Christian
Sobrato
San Joaquin Memorial
Modesto Christian
Santa Clara
Oak Ridge
American
Palma
Mt. Pleasant
Jesse Bethel
Menlo
Gilroy
El Camino
Santa Teresa
Gunderson
Harbor
Andrew Hill
Menlo-Atherton
Mission San Jose
Plus, these junior varsity squads faced each other:
Burlingame
El Camino
Santa Teresa
Santa Clara