MOMENTS TO REMEMBER

WEST HILLS —  There are special moments in every player’s career that remain forever preserved in memory.

Justin Stewart of Chaminade High cherishes two such moments. Foremost in his mind is a two-handed dunk against St. Francis earlier this season. It was the first dunk for the 6-foot-2 power forward in four years of varsity basketball.

The second moment came in a playoff game last season against Bishop Montgomery.

“I’ll never forget what I did in that game,” Stewart said, grinning from ear to ear. “If you hooked up wires to my head I could play it on the TV screen for you.”

Chaminade was playing No. 3-seeded Bishop Montgomery in a first-round game of the Southern Section Division III-A playoffs. With the score tied, 60-60, and less than 10 seconds left, Chaminade’s Scott Long drove and missed a short jump shot.

“The ball rolled off [the rim] to the left,” Stewart said. “Solomon Hughes was standing there--he was 6-10 and on his way to Tulane--and Lamar Lawrence was there--he was 6-6 and built like a football player--and they both went up [for the rebound].

“I was under the basket, grabbed the ball, jumped back, threw it up and it went in.”

Game over, with Chaminade pulling off the upset of the year in the division.

“When the shot went up it came right down to the ground and nobody touched it,” Chaminade Coach Jeff Young said. “They thought [the game] was over apparently. Justin [used] his quickness to get the ball and get it up while these guys are down there [scrambling for the ball]. All of a sudden the ball is gone and they’re looking up and he’s putting back the layup.

“It was just an awesome play to beat the buzzer. That’s the way he plays.”

Chaminade plays Bishop Montgomery again, this time in the Division III-A final at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim today at 11:15 a.m.

That key rebound against Bishop Montgomery was among 298 Stewart grabbed his junior season to set a school record.

“I think I see myself kind of like Dennis Rodman but without the attitude problem,” Stewart said. “I love to rebound. That’s probably my favorite thing, getting a rebound and smacking it to let people know it’s my board. That gets me going.”

Undersized for his position, Stewart--a three-sport athlete--compensates with quick jumping ability and a knack for getting to the ball first.

“He’s deceiving that way,” Young said. “A lot of opponents mark our bigger guys. But if you do that, you’re going to suffer.

“Centennial felt his wrath on the boards. He got 14 rebounds in that game. [And] he looked smaller or the same size as every one of their guys.”

Young was also misled by Stewart’s size in the beginning and tried with futility to make Stewart something he wasn’t ready to be.

“You always try to prepare a kid to play at the next level . . . and you don’t see too many 6-2 forwards playing college basketball,” Young said. “So we tried to make him a two guard for two years.”

Although Stewart showed great potential coming off the bench as a freshman, he fell off during his sophomore year.

“It was a bad year,” Stewart said. “I kept missing all my shots and I lost complete confidence in myself. I believe I shot 18.3% from the three-point line that year.”

Something had to change.

“[Stewart] kind of wanted to quit after his sophomore year and he came to me and said, ‘Coach, play me in the post. That’s what I’m used to,’ ” Young said. “We did and just had all kind of success.

“As a post player his junior year, he started dominating some people and finding out he could do some things.”

As a junior, Stewart ranked No. 9 among the region’s rebounders in the Southern Section and was the Eagles’ second leading scorer, averaging 13.6 points a game.

With the addition this season of 6-7 freshman center Scott Borchart and 6-6 senior guard Justin Beach, a transfer from Camarillo, Stewart’s statistics have diminished.

Stewart, who is averaging nine points and 7.4 rebounds, views himself as a role player.

“I’m usually the guy to clean up the mess,” he said.

He was anything but a mop-up guy in the Eagles’ victory over Cabrillo in the semifinals. Stewart made all 14 of his shots and jumped into the state record book at No. 2 for most field goals in a game without a miss.

“I really didn’t see my role [against Cabrillo],” Stewart said. “I guess I was just seeing open shots.”