Prep Basketball 1-A PLAYOFFS : Brethren Fails to Break ‘The Bowz’ as Montclair Wins Inside Game, 79-76

Montclair Prep basketball Coach Howard Abrams was expecting a close game Friday night against Brethren High.

But not that close.

Abrams’ Mounties had to fight for their collective playoff lives against the Warriors, before coming away with a 79-76 Southern Section 1-A quarterfinal victory in Paramount. Montclair, 23-1 after its 15th straight victory, faces the winner of the Serrano-Crossroads game in Tuesday’s 1-A semifinals. The site has not been determined.

Brethren (16-11), the Olympic League’s third-place representative, did all the things it had to do to upset the second-ranked Mounties expect one--stop Todd Bowser. The Mounties’ 6-8, 270-pound center dominated inside, scoring a season-high 37 points and grabbing 21 rebounds, 11 at the offensive end.

“Eliminating Bowser was the key tonight, and we just didn’t do it,” Brethren Coach Richard Thomas said. “My strategy originally was to break his legs, but they said I’d better not do that.”

Instead, the Warriors countered ‘The Bowz’ by shooting a torrid 70% in the first quarter and 58% for the first half, taking a 43-41 lead at intermission.

Montclair, which shot just 39% from the floor in the first half, hit four of its first five shots in the third period and led, 57-55, at quarter’s end. The Mounties held an eight-point advantage on several occasions in the fourth quarter, but had to fight off a late charge by the Warriors.

Brethren trailed only 74-72 with just over one minute to play, but a pair of clutch baskets by Montclair’s Darrin Nickerson, who finished with 15 points--and a steal and short bank shot by Bowser--kept the Warriors at bay.

Guard John Quick added 14 points for Montclair. Guard Chris Tatum paced Brethren with 16 points. Tom Lanning had 14 points and Vaughn Porter 13 for the Warriors.