They’re Giving It Their Best Shot : Torrance High’s Dean, San Pedro’s Tutt Are Battling for Area Scoring Honors

Although they have never been formally introduced, Michael Dean of Torrance High and Raymond Tutt of San Pedro have followed each other’s accomplishments this basketball season.

They have a definite interest in each other. The two seniors lead their respective teams in scoring and are separated by less than a point in the South Bay scoring race.

Tutt, a 6-3 guard, leads the area with an average of 35.9 points a game. He also averages 6.9 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 1.4 assists for San Pedro (4-10).

Dean, a 6-foot guard, is averaging 35.4 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.5 steals and 3.6 assists for Torrance (7-9), which lost its Pioneer League opener, 74-72, at North Torrance on Wednesday night.

The last area player to average close to what Tutt and Dean are scoring was Banning’s Jabari Anderson, who averaged 35.1 points in 1990-91.

“I couldn’t believe (Dean was leading) when I saw the leader list for the first time last week,” Tutt said. “I thought I was far ahead of everybody else. I’ll beat him for sure.”

Dean was equally surprised to see Tutt’s numbers. When Dean first saw Tutt play at a basketball camp last summer, Tutt was playing point guard.

“I never really met him, but I saw him play at camp,” Dean said. “I didn’t know then that he was a scorer.

“I was watching his numbers early in the year and I saw a couple of games where he was in the 40s and I thought, ‘This guy’s going to lead the area.’ I never thought I would be scoring 54 or 46 points in a game.”

Although they have been scoring at a prolific rate, Dean and Tutt fall short of the greatest scorers in state history. Mike Fisher of Southwestern Academy in San Marino holds the record with a 45.9 average in 1990-91. Tracy Murray averaged 44.3 points as a senior at Glendora High in 1988-89, and Greg Goorjian averaged 43.4 for Crescenta Valley in 1977-78.

Dean and Tutt are close to edging into the Southern Section season top 10, however. Tenth on the list is Mark Wulfemeyer of Fullerton’s Troy High with an average of 36.5 in 1973-74.

Another similarity that Tutt and Dean share is that they are finishing their high school careers under new coaches. Jim Masterson replaced Jack Kordich at San Pedro and George Tachibana took over for Bob Little at Torrance.

Masterson said Tutt has improved his all-around game from last season, when he averaged 24.2 points.

“I had a chance to see tapes of Raymond last year and he’s really got a lot more confidence (this year),” Masterson said. “When he touches the ball he knows he’s going to score. He has the ability to hang and drive. Once he gets near the basket nobody can stop him without fouling him.”

Tutt’s high game was 47 points in a 95-91 loss to Pius X of Downey. He scored 44 in a 94-77 loss to Inglewood, and had 40 in losses to Venice and University of West Los Angeles.

Dean was hampered because of injuries last season, playing in only 12 games for the Tartars, but still averaged 21.2 points. Tachibana recognized right away that Dean was going to be the top scorer for Torrance and moved him from point guard to shooting guard before the start of the season.

The move has paid off. Dean has two triple-doubles, the first coming when he had 33 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a 75-67 victory over Long Beach Wilson on Dec. 10.

Dean’s other triple-double came in a 107-106 upset of defending Division III state champion Morningside on Dec. 22, when he had 54 points, 16 rebounds and 10 steals. What makes his 54-point game even more remarkable is that he was being guarded by Stais Boseman, the Division III player of the year last season, for most of the game.

“He was killing us,” Morningside Coach Carl Franklin said. “We tried to slow him down. We put Stais on him, but he made a lot of spin moves and shot unconscious. We couldn’t find a solution.”

Dean said afterward that he enjoyed getting a chance to play against Boseman and the Monarchs because it gave him a chance to prove what he could do against top competition.

“All during the game (Boseman) was talking to me, trying to scare me, but I didn’t want to say anything back. I mean this is Stais Boseman!” Dean said. “After the game he came up and told me that he respected me.”

As Tutt’s and Dean’s scoring averages continue to soar, opponents have begun to devise ways to stop them, frequently using the box-and-one defenses. The players have also been subjected to taunting from fans.

Dean said that before Friday’s loss at Peninsula, students tapped him during warm-ups when he went near the edge of the court and sarcastically called him Mikey.

“Nobody calls me Mikey except my grandmother,” he said.

Dean also gets hassled by players.

“Guys walk up to me and say, ‘Mr. 54, you’re not getting nothing,’ ” he said of a reference to his point total against Morningside. “The only team that hasn’t talked to me during a game is South, but some guys I’ve played against will start reciting quotes I’ve had in the paper to me during games.”

Tutt said that few players have taunted him but he has received the same kind of fan reaction Dean has.

“The fans, they always pester me, but I don’t let it bother me,” he said.

Neither Tutt nor Dean knows where they will play next year. Both players have been contacted by Pacific 10 Conference universities, but neither has taken a recruiting trip.

“(Tutt) will be a great steal for somebody because he’s got the whole package,” Masterson said. “He’s always working hard. He’s a good kid who realizes there are bigger and better things to come for him.”

Dean said that of the small schools that have shown interest, he has been most impressed with Azusa Pacific.

“I really like (Azusa Pacific),” Dean said. “They keep calling me and telling me that I can be a big fish in a small pond. They have a senior point guard graduating and they told me they hope to have a freshman starter next year.”

Dean and Tutt said they would like to see the other play.

“I may try to go to a San Pedro game this year and talk to Tutt,” Dean said. “I would like to just walk up to him and say, ‘Hi, I’m Michael Dean, ever heard of me?’ ”