HS Boys Basketball: Ailing Gipson leads 'Dogs to 1st round win
By ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
Feb. 18, 2016
PALMDALE - Dejected after his team "laid an egg" in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1A playoffs on Wednesday, Westlake head coach Rob Bloom had a frank moment when asked about Highland's Deshay Gipson, the main catalyst of the Bulldogs' 67-40 win over the Warriors.
"If (Gipson) is playing like that, I don't know that we can beat them on our best day," Bloom said.
After knocking down six 3-pointers and slashing his way to the rim for 30 points, Gipson made sure Westlake looked ordinary, even as the Highland junior wasn't on his best day health-wise.
Still dealing with a case of bronchitis, Gipson could be seen sneezing repeatedly throughout the game, one that saw the Bulldogs jump out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter.
"It's not going to stop me from playing my game," Gipson said of the respiratory issue.
It didn't. Gipson found plenty of time in-between sneezes to torch the poor Warriors, who came into the night with bragging rights over the Bulldogs.
But Weslake, winners of a 69-66 Rose City Roundball Classic game over Highland on Dec. 1, never led nor came within a sniff of a victory on Wednesday night.
A Gipson 3-pointer and two more from sharpshooter Justen Miller completed a 9-0 run and gave the Bulldogs a 14-3 lead only 3:47 into the game as the Warriors called for time.
"That's what we needed in the first half," said Miller, who made four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points.
The Bulldogs led 19-8 after one quarter. Following a 7-0 spurt by the Warriors to start the second period, Michael Brandon (10 points) made a trey and Miller added a layup to restore order for Highland, which led 27-15 at that point.
Westlake wouldn't come closer than within eight points the rest of the way.
"You get a lot better throughout the season," Highland coach Jeff Smith said. "Tonight is the healthiest we've been in three weeks."
That injury report included Gipson, whose 11-point third quarter kept Westlake at bay.
The junior had three of the Bulldogs' five 3-pointers in the period, helping the Palmdale team win what was a 3-point shootout of sorts against Westlake 5-3 for a 55-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
"When (Gipson) is making those, when Miller is making those, (Brandon) made some," Smith said. "When we got that going, we're tough to stop."
The game already decided, Gipson continued to break down Westlake's defense in the fourth quarter, at one point crossing over a defender and laying in a contested layup to the delight of the delirious home crowd.
The only time someone got a hand on Gipson's shot, Highland big man Kamara Warren Jr. was there to clean it up, following up and slamming down the block on his teammate for a 66-40 lead with 2:50 to go in the game, the exclamation point of the night.
"(Gipson) played lights out for us tonight," Smith said. "It's one of those games where everything was clicking for us."
Just in the nick of time. Dominant for most of the season, the Bulldogs encountered challenges in two of their last three games of the regular season, losing at home to Knight in a double-overtime thriller and beating Eastside on the road in overtime to claim an unshared Golden League championship, their fourth in a row.
Against the Warriors (13-15), Highland got back to its assertive ways, limiting the team from the Marmonte League to four points in the fourth quarter.
"We just didn't come to play," Bloom said. "(Gipson's) tough, he's a good player, he's going to be good, I really like him."
The win not only avenged the early-season loss for Highland, which faces Summit in the next round of the playoffs on Friday, but was also redemption for a first-round playoff loss from a season ago against another team out of the Marmonte League: Calabasas.
The Golden League champs then, too, Highland was handled in a 62-51 home loss.
"I'll take it as a learning lesson and an experience that I'm proud of because it helped me move on to the next round," Gipson said.
On Wednesday, led by a more experienced and somewhat hobbled Gipson, Highland did the handling to get itself to round No. 2.
"I'll take a sick Deshay any day of the week," Smith said.
Left behind in round 1, Bloom and his troops, who were led by Hunter Gettings' 12 points, are now left to wonder if things could have been different with a little more effort.
But the way Gipson dazzled on Wednesday, the visitors' chances could have been best deemed as doubtful.
"I would have liked to show up and give it a shot," Bloom said.
Feb. 18, 2016
PALMDALE - Dejected after his team "laid an egg" in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1A playoffs on Wednesday, Westlake head coach Rob Bloom had a frank moment when asked about Highland's Deshay Gipson, the main catalyst of the Bulldogs' 67-40 win over the Warriors.
"If (Gipson) is playing like that, I don't know that we can beat them on our best day," Bloom said.
After knocking down six 3-pointers and slashing his way to the rim for 30 points, Gipson made sure Westlake looked ordinary, even as the Highland junior wasn't on his best day health-wise.
Still dealing with a case of bronchitis, Gipson could be seen sneezing repeatedly throughout the game, one that saw the Bulldogs jump out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter.
"It's not going to stop me from playing my game," Gipson said of the respiratory issue.
It didn't. Gipson found plenty of time in-between sneezes to torch the poor Warriors, who came into the night with bragging rights over the Bulldogs.
But Weslake, winners of a 69-66 Rose City Roundball Classic game over Highland on Dec. 1, never led nor came within a sniff of a victory on Wednesday night.
A Gipson 3-pointer and two more from sharpshooter Justen Miller completed a 9-0 run and gave the Bulldogs a 14-3 lead only 3:47 into the game as the Warriors called for time.
"That's what we needed in the first half," said Miller, who made four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points.
The Bulldogs led 19-8 after one quarter. Following a 7-0 spurt by the Warriors to start the second period, Michael Brandon (10 points) made a trey and Miller added a layup to restore order for Highland, which led 27-15 at that point.
Westlake wouldn't come closer than within eight points the rest of the way.
"You get a lot better throughout the season," Highland coach Jeff Smith said. "Tonight is the healthiest we've been in three weeks."
That injury report included Gipson, whose 11-point third quarter kept Westlake at bay.
The junior had three of the Bulldogs' five 3-pointers in the period, helping the Palmdale team win what was a 3-point shootout of sorts against Westlake 5-3 for a 55-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
"When (Gipson) is making those, when Miller is making those, (Brandon) made some," Smith said. "When we got that going, we're tough to stop."
The game already decided, Gipson continued to break down Westlake's defense in the fourth quarter, at one point crossing over a defender and laying in a contested layup to the delight of the delirious home crowd.
The only time someone got a hand on Gipson's shot, Highland big man Kamara Warren Jr. was there to clean it up, following up and slamming down the block on his teammate for a 66-40 lead with 2:50 to go in the game, the exclamation point of the night.
"(Gipson) played lights out for us tonight," Smith said. "It's one of those games where everything was clicking for us."
Just in the nick of time. Dominant for most of the season, the Bulldogs encountered challenges in two of their last three games of the regular season, losing at home to Knight in a double-overtime thriller and beating Eastside on the road in overtime to claim an unshared Golden League championship, their fourth in a row.
Against the Warriors (13-15), Highland got back to its assertive ways, limiting the team from the Marmonte League to four points in the fourth quarter.
"We just didn't come to play," Bloom said. "(Gipson's) tough, he's a good player, he's going to be good, I really like him."
The win not only avenged the early-season loss for Highland, which faces Summit in the next round of the playoffs on Friday, but was also redemption for a first-round playoff loss from a season ago against another team out of the Marmonte League: Calabasas.
The Golden League champs then, too, Highland was handled in a 62-51 home loss.
"I'll take it as a learning lesson and an experience that I'm proud of because it helped me move on to the next round," Gipson said.
On Wednesday, led by a more experienced and somewhat hobbled Gipson, Highland did the handling to get itself to round No. 2.
"I'll take a sick Deshay any day of the week," Smith said.
Left behind in round 1, Bloom and his troops, who were led by Hunter Gettings' 12 points, are now left to wonder if things could have been different with a little more effort.
But the way Gipson dazzled on Wednesday, the visitors' chances could have been best deemed as doubtful.
"I would have liked to show up and give it a shot," Bloom said.