Prep Beat
Tuesday, December 21, 1999

Watkins, Lewis
spark Montrose

By Aaron Custodio
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Montrose Christian, ranked No. 8 in the nation by USA Today, barely got by a scrappy Wilson (S.C.) team last night in the quarterfinals of the Nike Iolani Basketball Classic.

Before a Wilson-partisan crowd at Iolani School, Levi Watkins scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to help Montrose Christian rally past the Tigers.

Marvin Lewis also added 15 points, including three 3-pointers.

Wilson's zone-defense held Montrose to seven points in the first quarter. Chavis Thompson, a 6-foot-10 center, provided the scoring with seven points in the period.

"We haven't seen too many zones," Montrose coach Stu Vetter said. "Wilson played great defense, the intensity wasn't there, and we shot a horrendous shooting percentage."

Wilson led by as much as eight points.

After cutting the lead to 36-32 at the end of the third quarter, Watkins and Derek Breland ignited the comeback. While Watkins provided the offense, Breland did it defensively.

"Derek Breland was the key factor," said Vetter, who won national titles with St. John's in 1997-98. "He did a great job putting pressure on the ball and Derek was the difference in igniting our rally."

Wilson missed 10 free throws in the game, including six in the final quarter.

Lewis hit 4-of-6 foul shots in the final period to seal the victory.

"We gave ourselves a chance to win," Wilson coach Tommy Johnson said. "If we made our free throws down the stretch, the outcome would've been different.

"Credit Montrose, they made big free throws, big shots, and they are not ranked where they are without just cause."

Montrose will take on No. 12 Dominguiz tonight in the semifinals at 8:00.

Central will take on defending USA Today national champions Oak Hill at 6:30 in the first semifinal.

Dominguiz (Compton, Calif.) 73, Provo (Utah) 52: The Dons held the Bulldogs to one point in the first quarter.

Sherman Gay of Dominguiz had 17 points. Tyson Chandler added 12. Provo's Mark Allphin finished with a team-high 16 points.

Central (Ark.) 63, Washington Union (Fresno, Calif.) 55: Central withstood a late surge from DeShawn Stevenson and the Panthers to advance to the semifinals.

Stevenson scored 10 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter but it was not enough.

Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 71, East Anchorage (Alaska) 49: Rashaad Carruth hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to seal the victory for Oak Hill.

Carruth finished with 23 points, including seven 3-pointers.

Bobby Bowling's team-high 18 points led all Thunderbirds' scorers.

Radford 63, Baldwin 39: Sa Tanuvasa scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the third quarter to lead the Rams. Kalei Houpo had a nine points to pace the Bears.

Iolani 58, McKinley 43: The Raiders outscored the Tigers, 23-5, in the second quarter to cruise to victory. Iolani's Joe Udell led all scorers with 14 points. McKinley's Jay-R Laforteza finished with 12 points.

Roosevelt 37, Waianae 18: Van Dorsey scored 8 points to lead the Rough Riders in the lowest-scoring game in the tournament. Waianae's Raushaune and William Broadus combined for 10 points.

St. Louis 51, Kapaa 43: The Crusaders led 38-32 after the third quarter and held on for the win.

Junior Wong had a game-high 16 points for St. Louis. Kekoa Chun's 14 points led the Warriors.