CIF State Championships: View Park leaves no doubt, wins first state title with D4 championship

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Freshman Christian Johnson had 22 points and Kamren Storrs added 14 off the bench as View Park (Los Angeles) used their length and depth to post an impressive 74-62 win over Stuart Hall (San Francisco) in the CIF Division 4 boys championship game at Golden 1 Arena Friday.

It was the first state championship in any sport for the 14-year-old school with an enrollment of 630, while claiming the first Los Angeles City basketball title since Westchester in 2010.

Johnson, nicknamed "Bam," scored 18 of his game-high number in the first half and finished 8-of-14 from the field. He added four assists and six rebounds.



View Park took coach Deon Coleman's advice to "attack the basket," and instead of going deep at the big, cavernous NBA Arena, the team got to the rim and hit a variety of midrange shots.

It made 31 of 56 shots (55 percent) to 24 of 63 for Stuart Hall (38 percent), which got 21 points, five rebounds and four assists by Miles Amos, 13 by freshman Nigel Burris and 10 by Jay Henry Ryan.

"This just capped how the entire season has gone," View Park coach Deon Coleman said. "Every game there was no selfishness and someone new always steps up."

It was much like that throughout Friday's game.

Christian Johnson dominated early. Shamar Lair (12 points) and De'Shawn Johnsons (10 points) took over in the second quarter and Kamren Storrs, a 6-5 senior, dominated in the second half, making all seven of his shots.

Stuart Hall (23-12), with only one player taller than 6-2, had no answer for View Park's length. An 18-10 run in the second quarter gave Valley View a 33-24 lead and Stuart Hall, despite a tremendous student body — approximately 400 of the school's 450 students were donned in white t-shirts — never could close to within 11.



"That was a tough game for us," Stuart Hall coach Charles Johnson said. "We were super excited to be here, but the better team won. We simply couldn't keep them off the glass."

Said Christian Johnson: "It was just fun coming here for the first time. I started scoring early and then everyone else got going after."

Said Amos: "I'm just so proud of our guys, fighting through so much adversity. We were the underdogs every step but we battled to the end."