Southern California Regional Finals : El Camino Seeks Another Championship

A week ago, the El Camino High School boys’ basketball team was celebrating its convincing 61-35 victory over rival Oceanside in the San Diego Section 2-A final.

Today, El Camino hopes to celebrate winning another championship when it meets Hacienda Heights Wilson in the Division II Southern Regional final at 3:15 in the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

El Camino (26-3) was at its best last Saturday against Oceanside as it routed the two-time defending 2-A champions behind a 20-point performance by forward Kenny Crawford. El Camino led by only five points, 24-19, at halftime, but played a near-flawless second half and quickly pulled away from Oceanside.

El Camino will need another strong performance today in order to advance to the Division II State Championship game next Saturday at Oakland.

Wilson (29-3), the Southern Section 3-A champion, is led by one of the finest players in the state, 6-foot 10-inch senior center Scott Williams.

Williams averages 20 points and 12.5 rebounds. He signed a letter of intent with the University of North Carolina in November.

“He does just about everything real well,” Wilson Coach Mike Lowe said of Williams. “He’s unselfish along with being a fine scorer. Dean Smith (North Carolina’s coach) was very impressed with him.”

According to Lowe, Williams was the first player Smith has ever recruited west of the Mississippi.

Wilson has been successful using the fast break and a slow-tempo offense.

Last Saturday, Wilson used the latter and defeated Ganesha, 54-53, in the Southern Section 3-A final.

El Camino, which returns five starters from last year, defeated Los Angeles Murphy in a semifinal game of the Southern Regional playoffs Wednesday night, 58-45.