In 2006, I attended the California State High School Basketball Championship games that were held at was then the ARCO Arena. I was there to watch my daughter's high school team play for the state championship. The state championship games always pit a team from Southern California against a team from Northern California. There were five games being played that day. One of the games I watched was the championship game involving a scrappy but undersized Northern California team from of all places Palo Alto. To my complete and utter surprise, the undersized team from Palo Alto beat the favored and bigger Southern California team. This was especially noteworthy for me because the Palo Alto team actually had an Asian player playing point guard, and the Asian player was actually good... very good. But based upon my perceptions, and the program note that the Asian player was destined to go to Harvard, I thought that winning the state championship would be the last time I would see that player again.
I was wrong. That same Asian point guard caught fire last year in NYC and appears to be leading a certain Texas team to the NBA playoffs this year. The moral of that story is never underestimate the heart of a champion.
Which leads me to my pick for this year. At the same tournament, my daughter's high school's boys basketball team also won the State Championship in their division. However, unlike the team from Palo Alto, the team from Horizon High School of San Diego had a seven foot tall sophomore center who proved to be a dominating defensive presence. After seeing him play in 2006, I thought that there might be a possibility that he would become a pro once he matured. Well, it has taken him a while. And he appears to have taken his time to get through college, but he is making his presence known.
So, hoping never to underestimate the heart of a champion, I am going with the Jeff Withey led Kansas Jayhawks to take it all.
Peace
Jeffree David "Jeff" Withey (born March 7, 1990 in San Diego, California) is a Division I (NCAA) basketball player for the University of Kansas men's basketball team. He is projected to be drafted in the 2013 NBA Draft [3][4] and is known for his shot-blocking ability and his defensive presence.[1]
In his junior year, after twin brothers Marcus and Markieff Morris left for the NBA draft, he became a starter,[9] playing for the 2011-2012 squad which lost to Kentucky in the NCAA championship game. Withey blocked 31 shots in the 2012 tournament, breaking Joakim Noah's tournament record of 29.[10] During the 2011-12 season, he was named Big 12 defensive player of the year and set a Big 12 record with 140 blocks for the season.[11]
On December 3, 2012, Withey was named Big 12 Player of the Week. To earn the honor, he scored a triple-double against San Jose State Spartans on November 26. In that game, Withey scored 16 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and blocked 12 shots, for the second triple-double in KU history.[12] On February 18, 2013, Withey was named Big 12 Co-Player of the Week. He had double-doubles against both Kansas State Wildcats and Texas Longhorns. He also made his 265th blocked shot to set a new Big 12 record for career blocked shots.[13]
On March 10, 2013, he was named defensive player of the year in the Big 12 for 2012-13 and he was named first team All Big 12.[14]
On March 11, 2013, Withey was named 2nd Team All-American by The Sporting News.[15]
2006 STATE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP RECAPS
March 17-18, 2006
ARCO Arena, Sacramento
Three girls' teams entered the 2006 state championships looking to defend their titles, and all three were
sucessful: Troy (Div. II), Bishop Amat (Div. III) and Pinewood (Div. V) each repeated as state champion.
Afte this year's 5-5 split, the South has won 78 of the 120 games (65 percent) sine the state
championships were revived in 1981.
Following is a closer look at each state championship final game:
Division IV Boys
HORIZON, San Diego 60 def.
SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL, San Francisco 52
Steve Winnick had 18 points -- including five three-pointers -- to lead Horizon of San Diego past Sacred
Heart Cathedral of San Francisco, 60-52, to win the boys Division IV state title.
Marquise Carter was 12-of-12 from the free-throw line for the Panthers (26-3) and finished with 14 points
to go along with five assists. Horizon was 24 of 28 from the line for the game; Sacred Heart Cathedral
(23-9) was just two of five.
Jerelle Wilson, the only senior starter for the Irish, had 18 points and seven rebounds, and freshman
Jeremy Brown scored 12.
Horizon, which won back-to-back D4 championships in 2002 and 2003, and lost in the D5 championship
game in 1997, took the lead for good with 4:24 left in the first half, and led by 10 three minutes later.
But Sacred Heart Cathedral cut the margin to six at the break, and stayed within seven until the final
minutes.
Horizon's victory was the 14th for the Southern California D-IV champs, against only five for the Northern
California representatives.
Sportsmanship Award Winners: Jerelle Wilson, Sacred Heart Cathedral; Steve Winnick, Horizon
Division II Boys
PALO ALTO 51 def.
MATER DEI, Santa Ana 47
Jeremy Lin scored 17 points as underdog Palo Alto shocked nationally ranked Mater Dei, 51-47, to win
the boys' Division II state championship.
The Vikings (32-1) won their second state title while handing the Monarchs (33-3), ranked 19th by
Studentsports.com, their second straight upset defeat in the state title game. Last year, unheralded Oak
Ridge knocked off heavily favored Mater Dei 60-44.
The Monarchs got 23 points from 6-7 Travis King, but didn't use the height of 7-1 Alex Jacobson or 6-7
Steve Tarin to their best advantage, settling for 22 three-point attempts out of their 58 shots. Kamyron
Brown was the only other Mater Dei player in double figures, with 10.
Kheaton Scott scored 11 points for Palo Alto, including the late first-quarter basket that put the Vikings
ahead for good, and Brad Lehman added 10.
It looked as if Mater Dei would dominate when King threw down an impressive dunk just 2:22 into the
game to put the Monarchs up 4-0, but after that, the game belonged to Palo Alto. The Vikings tied the
score at six and eventually built a seven-point lead, 15-8, but Mater Dei cut the margin to four, 24-20, at
the end of the second period. The lead extended to nine with 5:51 remaining in the third quarter, but the
Monarchs battled back to cut it to one, 36-35 with 7:01 left in the game. Palo Alto pushed the margin out
to five twice more, but Mater Dei kept the pressure on.
Down two with slightly more than two minutes remaining, the Monarchs harassed the Vikings into a near
shot-clock violation, but Lin banked in a 27-foot three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to put Palo Alto up
by five again -- and the Monarchs could never get closer than two down the stretch.
Southern Cal has dominated the Division II boys' competition, winning 18 of the 25 title games.
Sportsmanship Award Winners: Kheaton Scott, Palo Alto; Kamyron Brown, Mater Dei
Jeffree David "Jeff" Withey (born March 7, 1990 in San Diego, California) is a Division I (NCAA) basketball player for the University of Kansas men's basketball team. He is projected to be drafted in the 2013 NBA Draft [3][4] and is known for his shot-blocking ability and his defensive presence.[1]
Contents[hide] |
[edit] High school career
[edit] Horizon High School
Withey led Horizon High School to the state Division IV title in his sophomore season (2006) [5] and he graduated in the class of 2008.[6] In the game preceding the state championship game, Withey and his teammates had to face a San Joaquin Memorial team in the Southern California Regional Championship game that featured three seniors who were future NBA players, Robin & Brook Lopez and Quincy Pondexter. In a dramatic double overtime game, Withey and his teammates overcame the SJM squad and went on to win the title in the following game.[7] In his senior season he averaged 20.8 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 7.3 blocked shots per game.[8][edit] College career
[edit] University of Arizona (2008)
Withey had originally committed to play for Louisville, but switched his commitment to Arizona. Following the resignation of Lute Olson in October of Withey's freshman season, he decided to transfer from Arizona. He did not see any playing time for the Wildcats during his semester of the 2008-09 season.[edit] University of Kansas (2009–present)
Withey transferred to Kansas in January 2009, but was ineligible to play until the end of the 2009 fall semester due to the NCAA transfer rules requiring him to sit out a year. He initially saw limited playing time during the second half of the 2009-10 season and the 2010-11 season, playing behind Cole Aldrich and the Morris twins.In his junior year, after twin brothers Marcus and Markieff Morris left for the NBA draft, he became a starter,[9] playing for the 2011-2012 squad which lost to Kentucky in the NCAA championship game. Withey blocked 31 shots in the 2012 tournament, breaking Joakim Noah's tournament record of 29.[10] During the 2011-12 season, he was named Big 12 defensive player of the year and set a Big 12 record with 140 blocks for the season.[11]
[edit] 2012-2013 Season
On October 4, 2012, Withey was named to the Preseason all-Big 12 unanimously.[11]On December 3, 2012, Withey was named Big 12 Player of the Week. To earn the honor, he scored a triple-double against San Jose State Spartans on November 26. In that game, Withey scored 16 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and blocked 12 shots, for the second triple-double in KU history.[12] On February 18, 2013, Withey was named Big 12 Co-Player of the Week. He had double-doubles against both Kansas State Wildcats and Texas Longhorns. He also made his 265th blocked shot to set a new Big 12 record for career blocked shots.[13]
On March 10, 2013, he was named defensive player of the year in the Big 12 for 2012-13 and he was named first team All Big 12.[14]
On March 11, 2013, Withey was named 2nd Team All-American by The Sporting News.[15]
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