Long Beach Poly wins state, Dominguez stumbles
The Long Beach Poly girls turned in another great defensive performance on their way to their third consecutive State basketball title, all three against Berkeley.
Poly is the first team to obtain a �3 peat� since Point Loma (�85-�87).
Poly held Berkeley to only 22.9% shooting as they cruised to a 55-31 victory. Washington State-bound guard April Cook held Berkeley�s Jazmine Perkins, who is also headed to Washington State, to seven points on 3-for-16 shooting, and 10 turnovers. Cook finished the game with 12 points and seven steals.
Poly�s Jasmine Dixon, who was named the Gatorade California Player of the Year, and who is headed to Rutgers, finished her stellar career with a team high 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The game was a route from the beginning. Poly, ranked No. 3 in the nation by USA Today, jumped out to a 28-11 lead in the second quarter. By the fourth quarter they were clearing their bench.
This team will go down as Poly�s best and they are one of the best girls� team ever in the State of California.
In the boys� section Dominguez was looking to continue the dominance of Southern California over Northern California. So Cal teams have won every State title this decade. But this year the north finally broke through as Oakland McClymonds completed their undefeated season with a 73-54 victory over Dominguez.
McClymonds was routed by Fairfax 54-29 in last year�s title game, but this year they were much better on both sides of the ball. They shot 47%, and held Dominguez to 32%. Last year McClymonds was held to only 22% shooting against Fairfax.
Dominguez�s Jordan Hamilton finished the game with 22 points.
Dominguez had a great season with victories over three state champions. They defeated Santa Ana Mater Dei (Division II), Santa Margarita (Division III), and North Hollywood Campbell Hall (Division IV).
