Dominguez Makes a Statement
The long-range outside shots were not falling for Tayshaun Prince on Monday night against top-ranked Westchester, but the Compton Dominguez senior still took over the featured matchup of the eight-game Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Challenge.
With an assortment of short jumpers, 16 rebounds and an exclamatory dunk in the final seconds, Prince led two-time Division II state champion Dominguez to a 71-62 victory before 8,500 at Pauley Pavilion.
“We’ve been the No. 1 team in the state the last two years, but tonight we came in against a team that was in that position,” said Prince, a 6-foot-9 senior who will attend Kentucky. “We had to prove that we still belonged on top.”
Prince finished with 24 points, nine in the fourth quarter after Westchester tied the score, 49-49, seconds into the final period.
“My shot wasn’t falling, so Coach [Russell Otis] told me I really had to go to the hole and create more things,” Prince said. “They were expecting me to go to my left, so I had to show that I could pull up and make things happen.”
Dominguez (11-3) also got a huge performance from 7-foot freshman Tyson Chandler, who played his best game of the season by clogging the middle and staying out of foul trouble against Westchester’s veteran front court players, David Bluthenthal and Chris Osborne.
Chandler scored 11 points, had six rebounds and blocked three shots.
“I’ve been looking forward to this game all season,” Chandler said. “I couldn’t even sleep last night. I knew I had to go in there and stay out of foul trouble and keep them away from the basket.”
Chandler did his job as USC-bound Bluthenthal (eight points), Osborne (seven) and Albert Miller (10) fouled out for Westchester (12-3).
Dominguez also got an emotional lift from senior forward Jason Thomas, who hurt his ankle during football season and had told teammates he was not going to play this season. Thomas, however, entered the game with 5:55 left in the first half and also played in the third and fourth quarters, finishing with three points and two rebounds.
Westchester overcame a nine-point deficit in the second quarter and an eight-point margin in the third to tie the score, 49-49, on Osborne’s lay-up at the start of the fourth quarter.
But Prince made a jumper, Chandler had a tip-in, Walter Small made two free throws and Prince added a free throw to give the Dons a 56-49 lead with 4:54 left.
Westchester’s Tony Bland (16 points) stopped the run with a jumper, but Chandler’s thunderous dunk gave Dominguez a seven-point lead that was not threatened.
Senior guard Brandon Granville led Westchester with 17 points.
Other Games
Sophomore center Andrew Zahn scored 24 points as Redondo Union defeated South Torrance, 78-44; junior guard Derrick Mansell scored 20 points to lead Santa Ana Mater Dei to a 64-58 victory over Anaheim Canyon; Lakewood Artesia defeated Long Beach Jordan, 59-43, as junior center Jason Kapono scored 18 points; senior center David Hamilton scored 20 points and had nine rebounds, leading Compton to a 64-55 victory over San Diego University; senior center Ricky Anderson scored 21 points and had 17 rebounds as Long Beach Poly beat Fairfax, 61-55, in overtime despite 18 points and 10 rebounds by Fairfax senior forward Greg Jefferson; senior forward Anthony Garrison scored 22 points and had 14 rebounds as Crenshaw held off Etiwanda, 63-61; and junior center Casey Jacobsen scored 32 points and had 11 rebounds as Glendora defeated Burbank Bellarmine-Jefferson, 66-45.
