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Bishop’s Craven twins can’t stop Westchester All-American Heath
by Paul Teetor
The Redondo Beach version of the 49th annual Pacific Shores Tournament saved its best for last when Westchester grabbed a thrilling 88-85 win over Bishop Montgomery in the championship game Saturday night.
After a night of soaring dunks, body-slamming defense and starring turns by the supporting casts, the game came down to critical plays by the leading men for each team. Westchester's Brandon Heath, who struggled most of the night, came through with a leaning finger roll shot from the right side, and Bishop Montgomery's Derrick Craven missed two foul shots that would have sent the game into overtime.
Heath, a 6-3 junior named as a pre-season All-American, is thinner than George W's lead in Florida. With 10 seconds showing on the clock, he slithered along the right baseline and launched a shot amid a thicket of arms trying to swat the ball. He was fortunate it wasn't blocked, but Heath never doubted it was good.
"It was magic," Heath said. "I knew it was going in before I shot it."
The crowd of 2,000 was standing and screaming as Heath's shot went through the net. With just seven seconds left, Bishop immediately in-bounded the ball to its leading scorer, Derrick Craven.
Craven sprinted down court, faked out one defender at the 3-point line, and put on a burst to go all the way to the rim. As he went up for the shot, three Westchester players hammered him to the floor and a foul was called.
Looking supremely confident - he had already scored a game-high 25 points - Craven stepped the foul line, took his time, and grimaced when he clanked the first shot off the front of the rim. The second shot bounced off the back of the rim and Heath grabbed the rebound. He was fouled immediately and sank one of two foul shots with a second left.
A full-court shot fell far short for the Knights, the buzzer sounded and the crowd surged onto the court, buzzing about the spectacular game it had just witnessed.
"Best game of the tournament," said Don Turner, a Redondo assistant coach. "Easily the best game."
Westchester coach Ed Azzam noted that his role players contributed as much to the victory as his two stars, Heath and 7-footer Chad Bell, who is scheduled to play for New Mexico next year.
"We have a lot of guys who can be The Man on any given night," Azzam said.
"Hassan Adams played real big for us tonight."
Adams, a 6-4 junior, was named Tournament MVP after scoring 18 points. He led the 4-0 Comets in scoring, followed by Brandon Bowman with 13 points and Heath with 12.
Westchester jumped out to a 10-4 lead with Bell, the 7-footer, scoring on several dunks over smaller defenders. The Comets kept running and pulled out to a 35-24 halftime lead. But Bishop rallied behind Craven and his twin brother, Errick Craven, in the second half. Always looking for each other, the twins combined on several spectacular plays and helped the Knights pull into a 67-66 lead at the end of three quarters.
The lead changed hands six times in the fourth quarter, setting the stage for Heath's heroics and Derrick Craven's surprising collapse at the foul line with a chance to send the game into overtime.
With the loss, Bishop fell to 3-1. The Knights were led by Derrick Craven's 25 points and Errick Craven's 24 points and eight assists. The Craven brothers will bring their two-for-the-price-of-one act to USC next year.
Box Score:
Westchester: Cook 4, Clemmons 6, Warsaw 8, Heath 12, Adams 18, Bowman 13,
Everage 5, Ariza 5, Cutley 5.
Bishop Montgomery: D. Craven 24, E. Craven 24, Peace 5, D'Oyen 10, Washington
3, Dodd 14, Lee 4. ER