Prep Beat
Thursday, December 23, 1999

Oak Hill rises
above Dominguez
in Iolani Classic

By Aaron Custodio
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Oak Hill, the defending USA Today national champions, had the will of a champion last night in the finals of the annual Nike Iolani Classic.

The Warriors of Mouth of Wilson, Va., ranked No. 4 by USA Today, rallied to defeat the No. 12 Dominguez Dons (Compton, Calif.), 54-50, before a capacity crowd at Iolani School.

"No matter how the offense was struggling, everybody played their hardest and put their heart into it," said Oak Hill's Luke Whitehead, who has committed to Louisville. "That is what a championship team does."

The Dons jumped to a 34-30 lead behind Michah McKinney's 11 points in the first half.

Oak Hill's Cliff Hawkins, who has committed to Kentucky, struggled offensively. The 6-1 point guard contributed by dishing out five assists, and finishing with four steals.

"Even though I struggled on the floor tonight, my teammates really stepped up," said Hawkins, the tournament's most valuable player. "Our big men stepped up, played big and contained Tyson Chandler. He got no dunks tonight - everybody's seen him dunk all week and he had no dunks today."

Chandler, the Dons' 7-foot center, was held to four points and just four rebounds.

The Warriors' DeSagana Diop, 6-11, finished with eight points, eight rebounds, three blocks and a steal.

"DeSagana outplayed Tyson Chandler," Oak Hill coach Steve Smith said. "He gave him problems with his size, scored on offense and made some big blocks."

Steve Moore's 3-pointer gave Dominguez a 44-43 lead at the end of the third quarter. Whitehead scored six of his game-high 16 points in the fourth period and Rashaad Carruth's 3-pointer gave Oak Hill a 52-50 lead with under two minutes to play.

Dominguez missed four field goals and four free throws down the stretch.

"We didn't do the things that it took to win," Dominguez coach Russell Otis said. "We had seniors at the line and with the ball. They got to be seniors. They got to make plays and they didn't."

"When two great teams play one another it usually will come down to the wire," Hawkins said. "It's all about who executes at the end and who makes the big plays when it counts and we were the team that did that."

Montrose (Rockville, Md.) 67, Central (Ark.) 63: The Mustangs led by seven after the third quarter and held on to win the third-place game.

Levi Watkins scored 24 points for Montrose. Bruce Evans led the Tigers with 23.

Washington Union (Fresno, Calif.) 50, Provo (Utah) 47: Washington Union's DeShawn Stevenson and Provo's Jacob Chrisman provided the offense. Stevenson finished with 20 points as Washington won the fifth-place game. Chrisman had a game-high 22 points.

East Anchorage (Alaska) 73, Wilson (Florence, S.C.) 65: The Thunderbirds jumped to a 20-10 lead in the first quarter and held on to win the seventh-place game.

Jevon Miller finished with 18 points for East Anchorage. Chavis Thompson's 20 led the Tigers' offense.

Roosevelt 53, Radford 45: Roosevelt held Radford scoreless in the second quarter on its way to the consolation championship.

The Rough Riders' Van Dorsey had a game-high 16 points. The Rams' Sam Baker finished with 15 points.

Iolani 44, St. Louis 42: Iolani rallied from a 12-3 first quarter deficit to beat St. Louis.

The Raiders' Bobby Nash led the way with 10 points. Junior Wong scored 13 points for the Crusaders.

Baldwin 40, Waianae 32: The Bears outscored the Seariders, 19-11, after an even first half. Baldwin's Kenneth Silva finished with 14 points. Waianae's Raushaune Broadus had 10 points.

Kapaa 41, McKinley 40: McKinley's offense only managed one point in the third quarter. Justin Matsukawa had nine points for the Warriors. Jay-R LaForteza's 14 points led the Tigers.

All-Tournament team DeShawn Stevenson (Washington Union) Tyson Chandler (Dominguez) Keith Brooks (Dominguez) Chavis Thompson (Wilson) DeShawn Anderson (Washington Union) Jacob Chrisman (Provo) Bruce Evans (Central) Sa Tanuvasa (Radford) Rob Monroe (Montrose) Jevon Miller (East Anchorage) Abdou Diame (Oak Hill) Tournament MVP -- Cliff Hawkins (Oak Hill)