NO WAKING HART FROM `DREAM'.Byline: VINCENT VINCENT Vital Information Necessary Centralized (movie, The Black Hole) BONSIGNORE Nobody is quite sure when the Hart High of Newhall boys' basketball team boarded the magic carpet magic carpet flew King Solomon and his court wherever he commanded the wind to take it. [Moslem Legend: Brewer Dictionary, 177] See : Magic bound for tonight's Southern Section Div. I-AA championship game. Not that anybody really cares. It is not every day that Lady Luck intervenes on behalf of the ordinary. When she does, the last thing you do is tempt fate by asking a bunch of silly questions. The best thing to do is shut up and enjoy the ride, and that is what Hart (19-12) has done during an improbable playoff run that carried an unremarkable wild-card team to tonight's 8:30 p.m. title game against top- seeded Etiwanda (29-1) at the Arrowhead Pond. Along the way, the team that dropped five of its first eight games and its first two Foothill League contests - one by 31 points at home - rocked Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, hoops by upsetting second-seeded Rancho Verde of Moreno Valley Moreno Valley (mərē`nō), city (1990 pop. 118,779), Riverside co., S Calif., inc. 1984. In 1990, Moreno Valley was California's fastest-growing city, with a population increase of more than 300% between 1980 and 1990, but major reductions and eighth-seeded Jordan of Long Beach in back-to-back shockers. ``You start thinking about it, and you realize how crazy it all is,'' said Hart guard Ryan Wolfe Ryan Wolfe is a fictional character in the show , portrayed by American actor Jonathan Togo. Characterization As portrayed by Togo, Ryan Wolfe is a man driven to succeed. He displays a desire a to impress his superiors coupled with ambition (c.f. . ``It's almost like a dream.'' One the Indians don't want to end. ``I keep telling people to stay away from me,'' Hart coach Tom Kelly People named Tom Kelly include:
Nobody has to remind Kelly and the Indians that deep, talented Etiwanda has the ability to deliver an emphatic wake-up call tonight. The Eagles are ranked second in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, No. 6 in the nation by USA Today USA Today National U.S. daily general-interest newspaper, the first of its kind. Launched in 1982 by Allen Neuharth, head of the Gannett newspaper chain, it reached a circulation of one million within a year and surpassed two million in the 1990s. , and they have won 15 games in a row. That only begins to explain the strength and depth of this team. Of Etiwanda's five starters, three are on the way to Div. I universities, and the other two could soon follow. Point guard Darren Collison Darren Michael Collison (born August 23, 1987) is an American basketball player. The right-hander is a native of Rancho Cucamonga, California, and is currently playing his sophomore season for the University of California, Los Angeles. is bound for UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , 6-foot-10 center Jeff Pedergraph is headed to Arizona State, and forward Marcus Carter will play at Portland. The Indians? Well, Wolfe is headed to UNLV UNLV University of Nevada, Las Vegas . On a football scholarship. ``No doubt, this is the best team we'll face all year,'' Hart forward Ryan Russell Ryan Russell (born 9 April, 1987 in Dunfermline, Scotland) is a Scottish footballer who currently plays in midfield for Dumbarton in the Scottish Second Division. Trivia
``Some things you just can't explain,'' Kelly said. ``You just chalk it up to the uncertainty of sports and the competition of playoffs. I've always felt the playoffs aren't necessarily the best gauge of who the best team is, anyway. ``No matter who you are, you're always one bad game away from going home. And sometimes that bad game is against a team you're better than on paper. It's all timing, a crapshoot in a way.'' And right now, the Indians are on the roll of a lifetime. From the beginning of the playoffs, luck seemed to be tilting Hart's way. It wasn't detectable at the time - the Indians opened innocently with a home win in the wild-card round against Fountain Valley Fountain Valley, city (1990 pop. 53,691), Orange co., S Calif.; inc. 1957. Chiefly residential, Fountain Valley also has diverse manufactures, including apparel, computer equipment, semiconductors, and medical equipment. A U.S. navy helicopter facility is there. , then went on the road and beat Alhambra in the first round. What seemed so insignificant at the time actually helped get the team through the second and quarterfinal rounds. By playing at home, then away in the first two playoffs games, Hart inexplicably got the next two at home. The Indians took advantage of familiar surroundings to post upset victories over teams Kelly privately worried had the ability to throttle Hart by 30 points or more. ``That was a humongous stroke of good luck,'' Russell said. ``To get those two games in your own gym, that's about as big as it gets. It meant everything.'' The next step was a road game against 12th-seeded Diamond Bar. ``Our confidence was sky high by that point,'' Wolfe said. ``You could sense the momentum building and building.'' Hart beat Diamond Bar 78-74 to reach its first championship game in 45 years. ``I guess it really started hitting me when just about every school administrator, teacher and campus aid came up to me at school the next day to give me a high-five,'' Russell said. ``That's when I started thinking, 'Wow, this is really happening.''' Not even the enormous challenge presented by Etiwanda can alter that good feeling. ``We'll go out there and give it our best shot and see what happens,'' Wolfe said. ``That's what we've been doing since the start of the playoffs.'' It's worked so far. |
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