Southern Section 5-A Playoffs : No Place Like Home for Fountain Valley

Fountain Valley High School basketball Coach Dave Brown has the home-court advantage for tonight’s game against Compton in the first round of the Southern Section 5-A playoffs, and that in itself is enough to make Brown feel better about his team’s chances.

Had Compton been named the home team for the debut of the 5-A division, the game probably would have been played at Compton College. The mere thought is enough to make Brown cringe.

“We’ve played Compton and Verbum Dei in the playoffs at Compton College four times and we’ve never won there,” he says.

Fountain Valley was on its home court in its last meeting with Compton. The Barons needed two free throws from Mike Horner with 10 seconds to play for a 37-36 in a nonleague game Dec. 19. Brent Martin had 16 points and 11 rebounds in that game, and finished the season as Fountain Valley’s leading scorer (18.3 average) and rebounder (7.2).

The Barons were without point guard Simon Thomas in that game. Thomas suffered a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery in the Barons’ loss to Santa Monica in the Tournament of Champions in December. He missed 10 games, returned, then was sidelined five more games.

“Simon is getting stronger every game, but he’ll never be back at 100% this season,” Brown says. “We’ve struggled without him.

“Considering that we didn’t have our (starting) point guard for 15 games, I thought we had a great season finishing 16-7.”

Compton is making its first postseason appearance since 1981, when it lost to Edison in the first round of the 4-A playoffs. The Tarbabes beat third-seeded Long Beach Poly, 52-50, in double-overtime in a Moore League game at Compton, but finished second to the Jackrabbits in the league standings with an 8-2 record.

Guard Barry Heads averages 14.6 points per game to lead Compton, followed by forwards Darren Posey (12.8) and Vincent Davis (11.0).

In other 5-A games:

Mater Dei (25-0) vs. Verbum Dei (12-11) at Chapman College--Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight says his team has the toughest first-round draw in the 16-team tournament bracket. He may not get much agreement from the coaches in the lower bracket, however. Ocean View, St. Anthony and Long Beach Poly, the teams directly behind Mater Dei in the 5-A top 10, are all in the lower bracket. Mater Dei beat Verbum Dei, 73-56, in a nonleague game in December. Monarch senior Tom Lewis passed former Ocean View star Wayne Carlander as the No. 4 career scorer in Southern Section history in the Monarchs’ regular season finale against Servite. Lewis would have to average more than 34 points per game--assuming Mater Dei reaches the championship game--to catch Leon Wood (St. Monica) for No. 3.

Westminster (8-14) at Serra (19-5), Saturday night--The Lions survived last week’s bizzare conclusion to the Sunset League race, beating Huntington Beach in a special playoff game to become the league’s third-place representative. They are making their first playoff appearence in 15 years, but have the worst record of any 5-A team competing. Senior forward Eric Shurman had 28 points and 12 rebounds in the Lions’ 70-66 win over Huntington Beach in the league playoff game. This game was moved to Saturday night because of dance scheduled Friday at Westminster.

Servite (10-13) at Long Beach Poly (17-7)--Servite Coach Larry Walker says he’s just happy to be here, even if being here means playing the defending state and 4-A champions. The Jackrabbits struggled early, getting off to a 7-6 start under first-year Coach Chris Kinder, but won 10 of their next 11 games. Forward Vincent Camper leads Poly with a 13-point average, followed by guard Michael Green (9.8), center Cedric Purry (9.6) and guard Chris Roscoe (6.2). Servite center Matt Honikel, who had six, 30-point games this season, is averaging 19.7 points per game.

St. Francis (11-12) at Ocean View (21-3)--Ocean View Coach Jim Harris hasn’t had much time for scouting out-of-the-area opponents this season. “I just worry about my team,” he says. The Seahawks, the No. 2 seed in 5-A, are getting improved play from point guard Blaine DeBrouwer coupled with consistency from sophomore Ricky Butler (12 points and 11.1 rebounds per game). Ocean View has reached the playoffs every year of its seven-year history. St. Francis is led by 6-7 forward Matt Dyrek, a preseason All-American who averaged 17 points and 9 rebounds per game, despite missing 10 games with an injury.