PREP BASKETBALL : Southern Section 3-A Playoffs : La Quinta Puts Up Fight, Loses to Morningside

Morningside High School didn’t figure to have much of a problem with La Quinta in Southern Section playoff action Tuesday night in the Los Amigos gym. After all, the taller, quicker Monarchs were 19-4 and the Pioneer League Champions.

La Quinta (10-11), on the other hand, had the second-worst record of any 3-A playoff team. Only Troy (10-12) had a worst record upon entering the playoffs.

The Aztecs, however, managed to make a game of it before losing, 59-46.

And to listen to La Quinta Coach Jim Perry, the Aztecs could at least savor a moral victory.

“They won the game,” Perry said. “I believe our kids really outplayed them--we deserved to win.”

The Aztecs might have won if they hadn’t started so slowly.

La Quinta, which finished 11-12, made just 2 of 9 shots in the first quarter, and, at one point, trailed 11-0. Nathan Barker’s lay up with 2:25 left in the first quarter broke the scoreless streak.

Barker (16 points) and forward Mike Zugates (15) were the only Aztecs to score with any consistency.

Morningside was having problems of its own, however. The Monarchs were outhustled, and that, in part, kept them from running away.

“They got all the loose balls,” Morningside Coach Carl Franklin said. “They were a lot better defensive team than people said.”

In the second half, the Monarchs superior size proved to be much for the Aztecs. Center Elden Campbell, who had 10 points, blocked 8 shots and was an intimidating force for Morningside.

With Campbell, a 6-foot 8-inch junior, controlling the inside, guard Levord Jenkins led the Monarch outside scoring with a game-high 20 points.

The Aztecs, trailing, 37-29, at the start of the fourth quarter, fouled repeatedly in an attempt to get every free ball and rebound, and Morningside began a quarter-long march to the free throw line.

Though the Monarchs made just three field goals in the final quarter, they connected on 15 of 19 free throws.