Tournament of Champions : Servite Wins at Line in Overtime

Reserve guard Brian Kenney made two free throws with one second remaining in overtime to give Servite High School a 47-45 victory over Santa Monica Monday night in the 15th Tournament of Champions in Cal Poly Pomona’s Kellogg Gymnasium.

Kenney was fouled by Viking guard Keith Neal as they struggled for a loose ball after Neal missed an 18-foot jump shot with six seconds remaining. Kenney led the Friars with 16 points.

“Kenney and (James) Rollins were the only pluses tonight,” Servite Coach Larry Walker said. “I hate Monday games. The kids seem like they’re on another planet.”

Tournament officials failed to notify the game referees that Santa Monica forward Danny Price had fouled out late in the fourth quarter. Instead of going to the bench, Price made a bank shot with 55 seconds remaining that sent the game into overtime.

“You can’t take the basket away in a situation like that,” referee Speedy Castillo said. “It was an unfortunate error by the scorer.”

Said Walker: “I knew there was nothing I could do about it, so I didn’t say anything.”

Santa Monica opened a 45-43 lead in the three-minute overtime, but Rollins tied the score, 45-45, on a base-line jump shot with 1:22 remaining.

Santa Monica elected to go for a final shot, but Neal missed and then committed an ill-advised foul.

Servite improved to 4-3 and won its first game in the tournament. The Friars made 7 of 9 free throw attempts in the second half to stay close.

The Friars’ top player, Tony Smalley, didn’t score and had trouble guarding Neal, who, with the exception of the last-second foul, played superbly. Neal led all scorers with 18 points.

“Tony has been inconsistent so far this season,” Walker said. “He loses his concentration sometimes. Hopefully, we’ll play better on Wednesday night.”

Ocean View 60, Compton 57--Forward Desi Hazely scored 27 points, including four straight shots down the stretch, to lead the Seahawks to a first-round win. Hazely made 13 of 14 shot attempts. Teammate Ricky Butler added 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Compton guard Dareck Crane scored 26 points and kept the Tarbabes close until the final minute. Ocean View, the tournament’s top-seeded team, meets Verbum Dei in the second round at 8:30 Wednesday night.