San Diego Section Playoffs : Morse Trying to Forget the Past Against Henry

In its 76-57 victory over Monte Vista High School in the first round of the CIF 3-A boys basketball playoffs Wednesday night, Morse’s combination of quickness and leaping ability proved to be too much for the Monarchs to handle.

In its semifinal game against No. 2 Patrick Henry tonight at 8 o’clock at Serra High, the sixth-ranked Tigers will be looking for more of the same.

“We’ll by trying to keep the game as up-tempo as we can,” said Morse Coach Ron Davis. “We’ll probably combine some press with some zone and see what happens. A lot depends on what the game situation dictates.”

In the second meeting between the two this season (Henry won the first, 69-67), Morse built a nine-point second-half lead with its aggressive play. But foul trouble forced the Tigers to slow things in the fourth quarter and Henry eventually rallied to win in double overtime, 63-60.

“Our kids are aware we’ve lost to them twice,” Davis said, “but they’re also aware that this is a new season and those two games mean nothing now.”

The two key figures in the contest will be Henry’s 6-foot 8-inch center Howard Wright (20.2 points per game), and Morse’s Paul Bryant (21.7), the county’s leading scorer.

“Wright’s a good player but we don’t want to let him dictate the game,” Davis said. “If any dictating has to be done, we want to be the ones doing it.”

Patrick Henry, the City Eastern League champion, comes into the contest with a 23-1 record. Morse, the City Eastern runner-up, is 14-6.

In the other 3-A semifinal:

Sweetwater (24-3) vs. Poway (22-1), at Mira Mesa High, Saturday, 8 p.m.--The Titans, the county’s top-ranked team, defeated Sweetwater in the first round of the playoffs a year ago en route to the 3-A title.

This year’s squad is nearly the same as the 1984 championship team and is led by center John Colborne (16.6) and forward Dominick Johnson (16.5). Both players had good games in Poway’s 106-51 trouncing of Bonita Vista in the first round.

Sweetwater, meanwhile, is just happy to get by the first round (77-69 over El Capitan) after early exits the past two years. Guard Larry Willson (21.0) and forward Mahlon Williams (18.0) lead the Red Devils’ high-powered offense.

In the 2-A semifinals:

Mission Bay (18-5) vs. El Camino (22-2), at Mira Mesa High, tonight, 8 o’clock--The Buccaneers, making their first CIF playoff appearance since 1975, will be hoping to slow the tempo against the top-seeded Wildcats.

“The key for us is to handle their press,” said Mission Bay Coach Michael Seaman. “They rely on that a lot, so we’d like to get them into a half-court game.”

El Camino, which won its first outright Avocado League championship this season, will be counting on swingman Ken Crawford and guard Randy Hale to keep the pace fast. Crawford scored 20 points and Hale had 17 in the Wildcats’ first-round victory over Hilltop.

Oceanside (17-6) vs. Chula Vista (19-6), at Serra High, Saturday, 8 p.m.--In its first-round contest against high-scoring Hoover, Oceanside slowed the tempo to beat the Cardinals, 51-47. The Pirates will be looking to do the same thing in a rematch of last year’s 2-A championship game, won by Oceanside, 57-55.

“We’d really like to hit the boards so that we can play a little quicker tempo,” said Chula Vista Coach Mike Collins.

In its first-round game, second-seeded Chula Vista lost the battle of the boards but escaped with a 62-61 win over Kearny.

In the girls’ 3-A semifinals:

Mt. Carmel (17-7) vs. Point Loma (23-0), at Serra High, tonight, 6 o’clock--The top-seeded Pointers, who were last year’s 2-A champions, got 27 points from Terri Mann and rolled past Grossmont, 71-21, in the first round. Mt. Carmel upset Bonita Vista in the first round, 69-66, behind 17 points from Tina Williams.

Fallbrook (19-4) vs. Santana (23-0), at Mira Mesa High, Saturday, 6 p.m.--The defending 3-A champion Sultans beat Sweetwater, 55-50, in the first round thanks to 25 points from Chris Sherman. Third-seeded Fallbrook got 20 points from Sandra Stevens and knocked off Madison, 68-48, in the first round.

In the girls’ 2-A semifinals:

San Marcos (21-6) vs. El Camino (24-1), at Mira Mesa High, tonight, 6 o’clock--The county’s all-time leading scorer, Sharon Turner, had 32 points as the top-seeded Wildcats subdued Clairemont, 96-42, in the opening round. San Marcos, seeded fifth, defeated Lincoln, 55-50, in overtime behind 27 points from Robin Paladino.

University (20-3) vs. Hilltop (19-4), at Serra High, Saturday, 6 p.m.--Hilltop, seeded second, got 21 points and 12 rebounds from Donna Matthews to turn back Crawford, 55-41, in a first-round contest. The third-seeded Dons knocked off Southwest, 54-34, in the first round.