When Long Beach Poly takes the floor at the Anaheim Convention Center Tuesday night in the CIF Division 1-AA semifinals, they will look at the team opposite them and see a familiar foe in a familiar setting. Some of the players may be different, the venue has changed, but the name on the front of the jersey remains the same.
The Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits (27-1) will face the Etiwanda Eagles (28-2) in a rematch of last year's semifinal round, in which Etiwanda came away with an upset of then two-seed Long Beach Poly, 58-55.=The Jackrabbits avenged the loss nearly two weeks later in the second round of the state tournament, 67-64.
Tuesday, they meet for the sixth time in the last eight years, in a game that will be streamed LIVE on FOXSportsWest.com. This time, Poly is not only the top seed in Division 1-AA but also the top team in the state.
"It's the fruits of our labor," says Jackrabbits head coach Sharrief Metoyer of his team's enormous expectations heading into this season. "We enjoy being in the limelight. Last year we lost to Westchester [in the Southern California Regional semifinals] and have been on a mission ever since."
Poly knew Etiwanda would appear somewhere along the mission.
The Jackrabbits are led by the senior trio of USC-bound point guard Alexis Moore, guard Alex Carmon, and Boston College-bound forward Ryan Anderson.
Sophomore Roschon Prince is a factor on the wing. Prince began his freshman campaign as the team's sixth man but started the final 17 games after an injury forced him into the starting lineup. Now, as a sophomore, he's second on the team in scoring, and, despite his youth, "understands the game very well," according to Metoyer.
Poly knows all about the Eagles' duo of USC-bound forward Byron Wesley, and Boston College-bound point guard Jordan Daniels.
Daniels is one of four players in a Southern California spirited recruiting class for first-year Boston College head coach Steve Donahue. Daniels and Anderson will be joined by Brea Olinda center Kyle Caudill and Valencia shooting guard Lonnie Jackson as teammates in the ACC next season.
While Wesley and his team-leading 19.6 points per game receive a lot of attention, it's the matchup with Daniels that concerns Metoyer the most.
"He's the sparkplug that makes them go," says Metoyer of the Etiwanda point guard. "Byron [Wesley] is the recipient of a lot of what he does."
Carmon and Moore will burden the responsibility of trying to contain Etiwanda's facilitator. Defense will be key for both teams, as both share the same values on the defensive end of the floor, and are committed to slowing down the opposition in the half court.
The teams have alternated wins and losses with Poly holding a slim 3-2 edge over the last eight seasons. All of the meetings have come in the postseason. When asked if this is becoming a rivalry, Metoyer responded, "its gotten to that point."
