Morningside Advances Past Fullerton

Although Morningside High School was missing three of its starters Friday night, the Monarchs still had little trouble defeating Fullerton, 69-54, in the first round of the Southern Section 3-A playoffs at Inglewood.

The Monarchs (17-7) advance to the Tuesday’s second round against Nogales.

Forward Marcus Psalms broke his wrist in the Monarchs’ final game of the regular season and will be sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs.

Then, on Friday afternoon, Morningside discovered that forward Leon Covington and guard Mark Hammock were academically ineligible for the game against the Indians (16-10). Monarchs Coach Rob Randall said that both players will return for Tuesday’s game if they pass their eligibility grade checks on Monday.

Fullerton failed to take advantage of Morningside’s losses as the Indians made 30 turnovers, 14 for traveling violations.

Fullerton was also up against a player unlike any it had faced this season in 6-10 center Elden Campbell, who fouled out midway through the final period. He led the Monarchs with 29 points, 8 rebounds and 7 blocks. Campbell shot 16 of 19 from the field.

Guard Tarron Wiley added 21 points for Morningside, 19 coming in the second half.

The Indians were down by four at the end of the first period, 15-11, and were still within reach of the Monarchs at the half, 30-22.

However, Fullerton turned the ball over nine times in the third quarter, as the Monarchs gained a 49-32 lead.

For Fullerton, Ralph Tallant had a team-high 20 points but managed only 5 in the second half. He also was the Indians leading rebounder with 7.