BOYS BASKETBALL
CIF State Division V Southern California Regonal Final
La Verne Lutheran vs. Los Angeles Windward
Saturday, 3 p.m. at Colony High School
The La Verne Lutheran boys basketball team has played at Colony High School enough to practically know every contour of the rims. The Trojans’ opponent Saturday in a game determining who will play for the CIF Division V State championship in Bakersfield next week can almost say the same, it just doesn’t have the evidence to prove it.
The last time it played La Verne Lutheran, defending state champion Los Angeles Windward could only watch as Bruce English’s last-second jumper took the scenic route around the Colony High School rim before dropping in to give the Trojans a vengeful 62-61 victory 15 days ago in a CIF championship-game rematch from the year before.
When No. 2 seed La Verne Lutheran and fourth-seeded Windward meet at Colony High School for the third time in 13 months, the stakes will be higher than ever in this fast-developing rivalry.
The rubber match between the 2009 and 2010 CIF-SS Division 5AA champions will produce the opponent for the winner of Ross Branson and San Francisco University High School, the Northern California regional finalists.
“Until we win a state championship,” Trojans coach Eric Cooper said, “we’re on a mission.”
Windward’s Wesley Saunders, who missed much of the first quarter of the CIF championship game with a cut on his forehead, will again be the primary target of the La Verne Lutheran defense. The 6-foot-5 junior swingman managed to score 20 points against the Trojans on March 4, including a runner in traffic to give his team a one-point lead with eight seconds to play prior to English’s theatrics.
Since La Verne Lutheran’s dramatic victory in the CIF championship, Cooper has sensed a new confidence in his team. Perhaps more importantly, he has sensed a new understanding.
“Since then I think our team has bought into what it takes to win games,” Cooper said. “Its helped them to know what it takes to grind out games. You look at the NCAA tournament right now, you can’t just come out and sweep somebody when it’s two good teams.”
Nobody likely needs to understand that better then Lutheran’s junior point guard, C.J. Cooper, a veteran on this youth-laden team. Sophomore Grant Jerett, one of two athletic 6-8 post men on the Trojans, is the team’s leading scorer (18.8 ppg) and rebounder (10.4). It is the guard tandem of cousins C.J. Cooper (15.7 ppg, 6.1 apg) and 6-2 freshman Eric Cooper Jr., who drive La Verne Lutheran’s fast-paced offense.
Despite two CIF championships in the last three seasons, including the dethroning of nemesis Windward 16 days ago, the Trojans feel they still have plenty to prove.
“They are the defending state champions,” Cooper said. “Everytime we play these guys it’s do or die. This feels the exact same as it did (in the CIF championship game). Everytime we play these guys there is a chance they can send us home.”
