Girls of Summer: Dixon Domination

With 96 teams in the San Diego Classic's 12 pools of eight teams competing in preliminary play of the Classic's top 3A division, the winners' bracket for championship action (Pool 1) had eight teams move into the first round of Pool 1 while four teams were given a bye from the tournament committee, automatically advancing directly to the quarterfinals.

Thus, the possibility existed that a team could win the 3A title with either six or seven victories. In reality, it still would be a team that would go the full distance; seven games over four days in this grueling contest that showcased most of the top teams in Southern California and one team from Northern California that is a perennial contender for a state title.

The top half of the championship pool saw Santa Monica earn the dubious honor of playing two-time defending Div I CIF state champion Long Beach Poly with the winner matching up against Troy of Fullerton. The second game of the top half had Ayala of Chino and local San Diego power Mt. Miguel (Spring Valley) squaring off for the right to meet Clovis West.

The bottom half of the Pool had Ventura against CIF Div II state runner-up Brea Olinda (Brea) with the winner getting St. Mary's of Stockton. The other game matched run-and-gun Hanford against the inside power game of San Clemente with the winner meeting St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs.

Santa Monica came out determined to make a game of it against Long Beach Poly and although it fell behind 16-6 early in the first half, SAMO made its only real run of the game right after that, closing to 17-12 before Poly's Jasmine Dixon took over to key a 5-0 run to end the half. Dixon ended the half with 12 points as the Jackrabbits went to the intermission with a 22-12 lead they stretched in the second half for a 50-29 victory.

As she had done in the first three games of qualifying pool play, Dixon was unstoppable on both ends of the floor, finishing with 27 points, 14 rebounds, five steals, and three assists. Sophomore 6-2 post Deshia Southall turned in a solid performance with 10 points, six rebounds, five assists and five blocks. Although she only scored a team high eight points, Santa Monica senior point guard 5-9 Daisy Feder earned high marks for the entire tournament with consistent play in all four of her team's games.

With Kelsey Harris leaving to play for Cal Swish Black in Carl Tinsley's Memphis tournament, Brea was without its most solid scorer and team leader, even though she is only an incoming sophomore. Not having Harris meant Wildcats coach Jeff Sink would have to depend upon his youthful duo of incoming freshmen 6-2 post Justine Hartman and 5-5 speedster and either-hand threat Alexis Perry.

Not only did the pair come through in a 32-21 grind it out victory over Ventura, they received major support defensively from senior forward Lauren Bell, and junior forward Kendall Rodriguez, plus excellent ballhandling from junior point guard Jonae Ervin. Hartman finished with game highs of 18 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks, while Perry blazed the court for 10 points, nine assists (eight to Hartman) and five steals.

Ayala of Chino continued where it left off in qualifying by dismantling a game but undermanned Mt. Miguel, 44-27 , as 6-0 post Jasmin Holliday, who is getting looks from Pepperdine, Oregon, Arizona State, Long Beach State, and Boise State, led the charge with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and five blocks. UCLA-bound Rebekah Gardner had a game-high 14 points with 10 rebounds, and earned a very high evaluation rating. Yours truly friend and Mt. Miguel coach Robbie Sandoval's girls played hard but foul trouble for star Danesia Williamson limited the point guard to a team high 10 points before she fouled out. Senior post 6-2 Cindy Ekewozor played well against the big, fast Ayala front line, and her inside game caught the eye of several non D1 college coaches who were allowed to attend the non-certified event.

The final championship round opener was a matchup of two contrasting styles. San Clemente used ball control and superior height inside to slide past a quick and talented Hanford squad, 39-34. San Clemente 6-3 junior center Jacqui Marshall dominated the paint and finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocked shots, while 6-0 sophomore forward Cassie Harberts added eight points and eight rebounds. Hanford, which likes to run and gun and shoot the trey, was led by sophomore Taylor Spikes with nine points on three three-pointers.

Earning a bye did help a couple of teams in the quarterfinals but Troy of Fullerton was not one of them. With star sophomore forward Alex Sanchez gone for other commitments, the girls of Troy were easy prey for the machine from Long Beach Poly. Dixon coasted a bit but still tied for team high point honors with 10 points, and a game-high 14 rebounds. Never short of stars, sophomore guard Brittany Wilson gave coach Buggs' Jackrabbits 10 points with five rebounds and five steals in a 35-15 victory.

St. Mary's of Stockton also did not benefit from the bye, as even without Harris, the superior size and equal speed of Brea resulted in a surprisingly easy 55-33 Wildcat victory that propelled Brea into the semis. Point guard Ervin came up real big for the winners with a game-high 17 points, six assists, and five steals. Three other Brea girls hit double figures led by Kendall Rodriguez with 14 points (11 rebounds), followed by Alexis Perry with 12 points, and Justine Hartman with 10 points and nine rebounds.

A team that did benefit from the bye was Clovis West, as the Golden Eagles surprised Ayala in a 57-49 victory that was closer than the score indicates. Late in the game when it looked like Ayala was poised to take the lead, Clovis West would answer, usually by virtue of having fresher legs. When Christine Dela Rosa hit a three-pointer after a defender failed to get to her from an inbounds pass, Clovis West had a 44-40 lead and the momentum to close out the win and advance to the semifinals.

San Clemente had gotten by a speedy Hanford but could not duplicate the effort against a rested St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs, which also seemingly benefited from the bye. The solid senior backcourt duo of Daisy Bueno (11 points) and Leslie Vodicska (10 points) had too much speed and superior dribbling and ball-handling, as St. Paul, with an enormous and loud cheering section, moved into the semifinals with a 36-31 victory. Marshall led San Clemente once again with 12 points.

Clovis West's freshness caught Ayala by surprise but against Long Beach Poly the jig was up in a 47-28 Poly win in which Dixon almost received a perfect rating in our evaluation system. Although Buggs used her sparingly in a game that was not as close in the second half as the score indicates, Dixon still managed to score 18 points with 11 rebounds, and eight steals to lead Poly into the championship game. Three-point specialist senior Ashley Orlich led Clovis West with eight points.

The second semi matchup pitted St. Paul against Brea. Not only was Brea still missing Kelsey Harris, but Hartman was held out after tweaking her knee in the win over St. Mary's, and the team was also without Coach Jeff Sink, who left to prepare for a photographic safari to Africa. It appeared assistant coach Steve Steele had a formidable task at hand.

With nerves that benefitted his last name, and another super effort from floor general Ervin (seven points, eight steals, seven assists), Brea eked out a 37-33 triumph in a nip-and-tuck affair. Rodriguez (whose uncle Mike McCormick was a Cy Young Award winner and one of yours truly's boyhood heroes when he pitched for the San Francisco Giants) had her best game of the tournament with a game-high 13 points and eight rebounds. Junior forward Skye Savini led St. Paul with 10 points.

With no Harris or Coach Sink, and the prospect of not having new found star freshman pivot Hartman for the championship game against Poly, it looked like the final might be anti-climatic. In fact, the first ten minutes of the game were anything but.

Not only did Hartman play but early on she was getting the better of the Poly big girls inside the paint. When little freshman Alexis Perry (eight points) made an acrobatic scoop shot with the left hand that caused the large crowd, especially the Brea faithful, to erupt, the Orange County girls had tied the score at 10-apiece.

The Wildcats joy was short-lived. As fast as the blink of an eye, the Jackrabbits took off like their namesake crossing an open field. First Dixon pulled down an offensive rebound Bill Russell style, slamming it together between her hands, and softly put it back for a basket. Then she corralled another offensive board, got fouled and made two free throws. After getting a pass in the block and muscling home a basket, Dixon grabbed a defensive rebound on the next sequence and went coast-to-coast, made a bucket, got fouled, and sank the free-throw to make it 19-10 Poly.

The capper came when the 6-0 Dixon, who seemingly can play any position, any time, and against any girl, milked the clock down to a couple of seconds left in the half then drained a long three-pointer to make it 28-12 after 20 minutes of action. For the half, Dixon had deposited 19 of Poly's 28 points.

To make sure Brea would not get a sniff of a possible comeback, Buggs put Dixon in the block on freshman Hartman to begin the second half, and Jasmine gave the big girl some lessons that will be very valuable in Justine's next four years of banging with the top high school centers.

The final score was 47-24 in favor of Poly as Dixon finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Hartman actually had a nice effort, considering the level of competition and led Brea with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Although there are no MVP's in the Classic, when Wade Vickery asked yours truly to present the awards at the conclusion on behalf of Cal-Hi Sports, we asked the announcer to save Dixon for last so we could give her the recognition she deserved.

Her evaluation is not complete because we plan on stopping on the way back north at Mater Dei for the FBC tournament put on by Ray Mayes, and Jasmine will be in action…but believe you me, Jasmine Dixon has firmly established herself as the summer's top player in California, one of the best in the nation, and made herself a favorite for this coming year's Ms. Basketball award.

We will have more on her college possibilities in Girls of Summer Part VI, but it's no wonder Baylor and Duke, plus just about every other major D1 college program, would love to have Jasmine in their jersey next fall.

The 2A bracket of the tournament, won by Orange Lutheran the past two years, had a very entertaining championship game with St. Joseph of Santa Maria almost blowing a 15-point halftime lead but stabilizing down the stretch for a 39-36 triumph. Junior power forward Ane McPike led St. Joseph with 11 points and eight rebounds, while senior post Devin Riezebos and junior three-point shooter Gabriella Winters contributed 10 and nine points respectively for the girls from California's Central Coast area who compete in the Southern Section.