Corona Centennial guard Gelaun Wheelwright's shooting leads his team into title game
10:00 PM PDT on Friday, March 18, 2011
By ERIC-PAUL JOHNSON
The Press-Enterprise
CORONA - Gelaun Wheelwright has that look in his eyes at the moment. It's the distinctive gaze of a player brimming with confidence each time he shoots the ball.
Corona Centennial coach Josh Giles knows it very well, as there were plenty of games Giles possessed that look when he was a standout at Glendora in the mid 1990s. Giles has witnessed it a handful of times during his eight-year coaching tenure at Centennial, but nothing quite like what he's seen recently from Wheelwright.
Wheelwright, a 6-foot guard who has signed with Weber State, has caught fire in the CIF-State playoffs. Wheelwright has averaged 32 points over three games to lead the Huskies (30-4) into tonight's Division 1 regional championship game against Santa Ana Mater Dei (30-3) at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.
Over those three games, Wheelwright has knocked down 17 of 34 attempts from beyond the three-point arc.
"My shots are falling at the moment, and I just look at it as a blessing from God," said Wheelwright, who is averaging 18.9 points a game for the Huskies this season. "There are times I get into a rhythm, and I start having a feeling that I just can't miss."
Wheelwright opened the state playoffs with a 31-point effort against Redlands East Valley. He followed that up with a career-high 38 points against LA Westchester, the two-time defending state champion. He scored 27 against Woodland Hills Taft, the LA City Section champ.
"This is the state playoffs, the biggest stage for a high school basketball player," Giles said. "And he's not doing all this against teams at the bottom of the barrel. He's put up those numbers against the best of the best."
Wheelwright's big games have been needed, as point guard Michael Caffey (17.1 points per game) has been slowed by an ankle injury.
"People have noticed what I've done, but there are a lot of players who have really stepped up," Wheelwright said. "We wouldn't be here if it were one guy doing that."
Many opposing coaches have been left baffled by Wheelwright in the state playoffs, especially the few times he has calmly pulled up and sank a 25-foot shot.
"Really, how do you defend that?" Taft coach Derrick Taylor pondered moments after his team's 94-81 loss to the Huskies. "You just can't do it."
After four years under his watch, Giles said nothing Wheelwright does on the court shocks him anymore. Wheelwright came into the program with a reputation for being a natural scorer and gifted shooter, and he hasn't disappointed much. He ranks high among the school's all-time leading scorers with 1,886 points.
And there's one thing Giles said he can always count on from Wheelwright.
"He could be having the worst shooting night, but he'll hit that one shot when we need it most," Giles said. "There are players who thrive in those moments, and Gelaun is one of them."
Tonight's game will have an interesting side story, as Wheelwright will be playing at USC, the college he first committed to playing for. Trojans coach Kevin O'Neill said he was not pleased with Wheelwright's progress over the past two seasons, and the two parted ways. That allowed Weber State to snatch up Wheelwright.
"It was disappointing at first," Wheelwright said, "but it's not something I'm going to be thinking about Saturday night. I'm very happy and very proud to be going to Weber State."
Wheelwright said it's been advantageous for him to play for a coach who was quite the shooter in his day. Many of the plays designed for Wheelwright are similar to the ones Giles once ran as the point guard at Glendora.
"He can see when I'm doing something wrong," Wheelwright said. "And he's always going to try to put me in the best position to score."
Giles still shoots the ball very well and occasionally finds himself in competition against Wheelwright
"He's never beaten me, and I always remind him of that," Giles said with a laugh.
Reach Eric Paul Johnson at 951-368-9530 or
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