The Road to Arco Arena 2003
1st Round Div VAA Playoffs
The road to Arco Arena in Sacramento begins with CIF Southern Section Playoffs February 19, 21, 25, 28, & culminates March 7 at Gerstens Pavillion, Loyola Marymount. The Southern California championships are March 11 and 13 at Cal State Fullerton. State championships will be at Arco Arena in Sacramento March 21 and 22.
The first round playoff match on Feb 19, 2003 was HCS' first playoff game of 2003 versus Academy of Academic Excellence. HCS finished second in the Agape League and has been placed in the upper bracket of the Div VAA preliminary playoffs. AAE came in second place in the Hi Lo League and has a record of 15-7 (12-2). AAE only lost to Lone Pine the Hi-LO champions in league play. The game is being played at Hesperia Christian.
Hesperia Christian vs AAE
| Player |
Points |
PPG |
FG |
FG % |
FT |
FT % |
| Aja Ajanwachuku | 30 | 19.29 | 10/15 | 66% | 1/1 | 100% |
| Bryant Baum | 0 | 1.24 | 0/0 | 0% | 0/0 | 0% |
| Loren Barton | 8 | 6.83 | 4/4 | 100% | 0/0 | 0% |
| Aaron Garcia | 2 | 3.33 | 1/2 | 50% | 0/0 | 0% |
| Bryan Glass | 6 | 5.63 | 0/2 | 0% | 0/0 | 0% |
| Josh Hamilton | 25 | 17.96 | 9/9 | 100% | 1/1 | 100% |
| Jesse McDonald | 17 | 14.04 | 4/4 | 100% | 0/0 | 0% |
| Danny Marriott | 0 | 1.63 | 0/0 | 0% | 0/0 | 0% |
| Josh Martinson | 3 | 3.04 | 1/1 | 100% | 1/2 | 50% |
| Steve Pappas | 0 | 2.78 | 0/1 | 0% | 0/0 | 0% |
| Trevor Wagstaffe | 0 | 2.96 | 0/1 | 0% | 0/0 | 0% |
| Hesperia Christian | | | | | | |
| Team Totals | 91 | 91 | 29/39 | 74% | 3/4 | 75% |
| Player |
3 Pointers |
3 PT % |
Reb |
Asst |
Stls |
TO |
BS |
| Aja Ajanwachuku | 3/4 | 75% | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Bryant Baum | 0/0 | 0% | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Loren Barton | 0/2 | 0% | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Aaron Garcia | 0/0 | 0% | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Bryan Glass | 2/3 | 66% | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Josh Hamilton | 2/5 | 40% | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Jesse McDonald | 3/5 | 60% | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Danny Marriott | 0/0 | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh Martinson | 0/0 | 0% | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Steve Pappas | 0/0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Trevor Wagstaffe | 0/2 | 0% | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Hesperia Christian | | | | | | | |
| Team Totals | 10/21 | 48% | 17 | 22 | 22 | 13 | 5 |
Game Stats
| Team |
First Qtr |
Second Qtr |
Third Qtr |
Fourth Qtr |
Total |
| HCS | 31 | 21 | 13 | 26 | 91 |
| AAE | 17 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 61 |
La Sierra Academy
| Name |
Points |
3 pointers |
| Dave Cook | 4 | 0 |
| Evan Reed | 2 | 0 |
| Vinnie Ajanwachuku | 19 | 3 |
| Tony Giovannetti | 8 | 0 |
| Kevin Roy | 19 | 5 |
| Luke McGrath | 2 | 0 |
| Dustin Mathis | 7 | 0 |
Game Review
Tonight HCS began their playoff journey with a 91-61 win over Academy of Academic Excellence in Hesperia. The Patriots came out and pressed hard causing AAE fits. They jumped out to a 24-2 lead early in the first quarter. They then let up a bit missing the killer instinct to kill off a team on the ropes.At the end of the quarter the score was 31-17. The second quarter was fairly even as Vinnie Ajanwachuku put up some of his team high 19 points. Dustin Mathis also got off some of his 5 three pointers this evening. Aja Ajanwachuku countered with some of his game high 30 points. Josh Hamilton followed right behind Aja with 25 points. Trevor Wagstaffe led all Patriots in both rebounding and assists with 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Hamilton, Josh Martinson and Loren Barton all were 100% from FG range. Both Aja and Josh Hamilton were perfect from the charity line. Jesse McDonald came thru with 17 points 3 assists and 3 steals. He also shot a phenomenal 60% from three point range. The biggest problem tonight was failure to put AAE away early allowing them to get within 14 points as the fourth quarter began. Also Patriot rebounding was atrocious as they only had 17 rebounds all night. They lost the third quarter to the Knights 15-13 but came back in the fourth quarter winning it 26-10. So now HCS will meet La Sierra Academy on February 20 in Riverside. La Sierra is 20-5 and this will be their first playoff game.
Game Preview
Tonight Hesperia Christian boys begin the road to Arco Arena and the CIF State Championships. They finished the season 17-7 (8-2). They have only lost two games in 2003, both times to #2 Apple Valley Christian. They have not lost a game this season in which they lead in the first quarter. HCS is lead by Aja Ajanwachuku 19 ppg, Josh Hamilton 18 ppg, and Jesse McDonald 14 ppg. Loren Barton holds down the paint and is the leading rebounder on the team and second leading shot blocker behind McDonald. Junior point guard Trevor Wagstaffe leads the offensive attack for the Patriots. Aaron Garcia is a strong six man for the team. Josh Martinson, although 6' is a strong rebounder spelling Barton. Bryan Glass is the other six man and can hit the three as well as anyone on the team. He also slashes well to the hoop. Danny Marriott and Bryant Baum come in and are the two best free throw shooters on the team. Steve Pappas is a strong point backup to Wagstaffe. AAE is led by Dustin Mathis who can score 30 points and Kevin Roy another high scorer. Vince Ajanwachuku is their guard and scores 11-15 points a game. Tony Giovanetti is fully capable of scoring 15-20 points. AAE barely lost to Hi-Lo champion Lone Pine in their two league matches. So they will be a worthy opponent for HCS. The HCS press will do damage to AAE. AAE's backdoor capability plays to HCS' weakness.
Schedule and Results
2000-2001 HCS 14-8 (6-4) (0-1) Playoff record
2001-2002 HCS 14-9 (5-5) (2-1) Playoff record
2002-2003 HCS 18-7 (8-2) (1-0) Playoff record
2003 CIF Playoff Division VA Games
| DATE |
Home Tm |
Away Tm |
Score |
| February 19 |
Hesperia Christian Patriots |
AAE Knights |
Win 91-61 |
2002 CIF Playoff Division VA Games
| DATE |
Home Tm |
Away Tm |
Score |
| February 13 |
Westview |
Hesperia Christian Patriots |
Win 68-48 |
| February 15 |
Hesperia Christian |
Baptist Christian, Hemet |
Win 70-66 |
| February 19 |
Hesperia Christian |
Price |
Loss 113-49 |
2001 CIF Playoff Division VA Games
| DATE |
Home Tm |
Away Tm |
Score |
| February 14 |
Desert Christian Bermuda Dunes |
Hesperia Christian Patriots |
Loss 50-45 |
Return Links
HCS Varsity Boys 2nd Round DIV VAA Playoff Page
HCS Home Page
HCS Varsity Boys Page
HCS Schedule and Record 2002-2003 Page
HCS Varsity Boys' 2002-2003 Individual Statistics Page
Agape Web Page
HCS Varsity Boys Team Cumulative Stats Page
HCS Varsity Boys' 2001-2002 Statistics Page
