Serra Win Clinches 2nd Place : No. 5 Team Takes 40-17 Lead Over Mira Mesa at Half

Serra High should be thankful high school basketball games last only 32 minutes. In fact, the Conquistadors would have been even better off if Thursday night’s game was only 16 minutes.

That’s when the Serra played what Coach Tom Williams called “the greatest half of high school basketball” he had seen in his 10 years at Serra.

It gave the No. 5-ranked Conquistadors a 40-17 lead at halftime.

Serra went on to hold off a furious rally by No. 8 Mira Mesa to win, 70-61, and clinch at least second place in the City Eastern League.

On paper, the game should have been close.

Mira Mesa came into the game having lost to Serra by only two points in their first meeting. And the Marauders (5-4 in league, 15-8 overall), who had beaten third-ranked Morse, the league’s first-place team, trailed Serra (7-2, 18-3) by one game in the standings.

Though Mira Mesa righted itself in the second half, it never came closer than the final score.

In the first half, it seemed Serra could do nothing wrong. Serra guards Deven Moran and Anthony Moore forced Mira Mesa out of its man-to-man defense in the first quarter. Moore, who made 6 of 7 field-goal attempts in the first quarter, hit three long jumpers to give the Conquistadors a 11-2 lead with 3:58 left in the first period.

The Marauders came back with a 2-3 zone defense. That was almost as ineffective as the man-to-man. Serra, which made 19 of 29 first-half shots, led 22-7 by the end of the period.

It was Moran’s turn to get hot in the second quarter. Moran made 4 of 5 shots in the second quarter and had 12 first-half points.

The Serra defense looked as impressive as its offense. The tight 2-3 defense kept Mira Mesa from getting the ball inside. The Marauders took only five shots in the first quarter.

And while Mira Mesa was committing 10 turnovers in the first half, Serra didn’t make a mistake even when it made a mistake. For example, with 1:28 left in the first half, Mira Mesa’s Bill Lee stole a pass and headed down court for what appeared to be an easy layup. But Serra’s Steve Smith rushed down the floor and blocked Lee’s shot. Mike Karp grabbed the ball, threw it to Smith, who then threw it to Matt Van Scyoc who scored an easy layup at the other end. Conquistadors 38, Marauders 17.

But, as Mira Mesa coach Tim Cunningham said, “They played more like humans in the second half.”

Led by DeWayne Odom, who did not play at all in the first quarter, the Marauders made a game of it.

Williams was forced to call a timeout with 3:51 left in the third quarter, when Mira Mesa had closed the gap to 42-25. Serra, which had played so flawlessly in the first 16 minutes, looked disorganized.

“What are we running?” a puzzled Van Scyoc, while running down the floor, asked his coach.

The Marauders cut the lead to 52-33 by the end of the third. Lee had eight points in the third.

Mira Mesa cut the lead to 52-41 with 5:30 to play, after Odom made a layup. But Moran closed the door for good.

After driving inside and hitting a layup, Moran completed the three-point play to make it 55-41. Odom, who made 7 of 8 field-goal attempts in the second half and had 14 points, hit two more layups to keep Mira Mesa close. But all the Marauders could do was foul and hope Serra missed.

“We would have needed a miracle to comeback and win after getting behind that far,” Cunningham said. “But our kids hung tough. They didn’t give up.”

Moore had 22 and Moran had 21. Lee led all scorers with 23. Smith added 12 for Serra.

Serra plays at Morse on Wednesday night. If the Conquistadors win, they wil play the Tigers on Friday to decide the league champion and first place in the league.