SAN DIEGO PREP BASKETBALL : Mission Bay Too Shy to Shoot, Loses 54-52

Graduation last June at Mission Bay High School robbed basketball coach Mike Seaman of his top seven players from what he considers to be the best basketball team in the school’s 22-year history.

The few players that returned this year saw limited action in 1985, when the Buccaneers compiled a 9-1 City Western League record and a berth in the CIF AA finals (eventually losing to Oceanside). When they did get a chance to play, they were instructed to pass to the better players, something they can’t seem to get out of their minds.

This preference for passing has been the main problem for the Bucs this year, according to Seaman, and Tuesday’s 54-52 loss to University highlighted Mission Bay’s shyness in the shooting department.

“They’re not used to having to be the one to score,” Seaman said of his team, which fell to 2-4 in league and 3-12 overall. “They have never been in that situation.

“In the games they played in last year, they passed the ball to the guy who had to shoot. Now they are the guys who have to shoot and they are having a tough time adjusting to that.”

University (6-0, 14-6), although not as fine-tuned as coach Pat Murphy would like, came out running. University jumped to an 11-6 first-period lead, and kept the five-point margin throughout the game.

The sluggish start by Mission Bay interrupted University’s patented fast-paced style, however. Mission Bay’s “style frustrated our guys, and we couldn’t click on our game,” Murphy said.

“We’re used to running from the start,” said University’s Matt Seidlinger, whose only basket was a tip at the final buzzer which gave the Dons the win.

The Dons’ defense applied heavy pressure on the Bucs, which only compounded their fear of shooting.

“Everyone was looking for someone else to take the shot,” said Mission Bay’s John Turner. “In the second half we got more aggressive and had a good half.”

Both teams scored 10 points in the third period. It appeared the Bucs were finally coming to life, shooting more frequently. The Dons, on the other hand, became sluggish and played sloppy basketball, often throwing the ball away and making a string of mental errors.

“We weren’t mentally there,” Murphy said of his team’s second-half performance. “We’re usually very good down the stretch, but we became unglued. We were lucky to win.”

Mission Bay gave the Dons a scare with six successive points in the final two minutes to tie the score at 52-52.

University’s Sean Giles and John Turner paced the Dons with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Rick Fried led Mission Bay with 13 points.

One fear Murphy had going into Tuesday’s game was that his team would look beyond Mission Bay, and envision a clean sweep in the league.

“We expected to win this game by a lot,” Seidlinger said.

“I think we can go 10-0,” said University’s James Wilson. “If we can survive games like this one, there’s no way we shouldn’t go 10-0.”