Tournament of Champions : Dominguez Wins Title With ‘Hail Mary Shot’ From Elliott, 48-46

Dominguez High School guard Michael Elliott scored on an off-balance shot at the buzzer to give the Dons a 48-46 win over Ocean View Saturday night in the championship game of the 15th Tournament of Champions in Cal Poly Pomona’s Kellogg Gymnasium.

The victory was the ninth straight for the Dons and snapped Ocean View’s 18-game winning streak spanning two seasons. It also marked the second time Ocean View has lost in the championship game in three years.

Dominguez successfully worked down the clock after Ocean View center Ricky Butler missed a dunk shot with 2:51 remaining until only 11 seconds were left. Don Coach Ernie Carr then called a timeout to work for a final shot.

Elliott, a 6-foot 2-inch senior headed for UC Santa Barbara next fall, took a pass from Dijon Bernard and tried to drive the lane. The Seahawks had him defensed perfectly and Elliott stumbled as time was running out.

Somehow, Elliott managed to cast off a 15-foot jump shot at the buzzer and the desperation attempt hit nothing but net. Elliott had been closely guarded by Ocean View’s Mike Frohm all evening and had only four points before his winning shot.

Ocean View Coach Jim Harris said he thought Elliott had charged into Frohm before he got the shot off, but he applauded the Dons’ discipline and poise as they controlled the ball for the final 2:51.

“You feel like you’re in trouble when a team can hold the ball that long and not make a mistake,” Harris said. “They did a great job of holding the ball and earned the win.

“I thought there was an offensive foul before the shot, but that’s basketball. The refs aren’t going to call it that late in the game. That’s normal.”

Losing was a little abnormal for most of the members of the Seahawks’ team. The returning varsity players hadn’t lost since Ocean View was defeated in its final nonleague game against Long Beach Poly last season. And the players who are up from the junior varsity team were 24-0 on that squad last year. Harris estimated they had won 35 consecutive games.

The turning point came when Seahawk forward Desi Hazely went down with an ankle injury after he scored on a follow shot with 2:03 left in the third quarter, giving the Seahawks a 40-35 lead. Hazely tried to return in the fourth quarter, but was in too much pain. He still finished as Ocean View’s top scorer with 14 points and had 9 rebounds.

The Seahawks held a 42-36 lead going into the last quarter, but managed to make only 2 of 9 shots during that period, both by Todd Pickard.

Dominguez was led by Ronnie Coleman’s 24 points, the only Don to score in double figures. The USC-bound senior, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, hit 12 of 19 shots.

Both Butler and Hazely were named to the all-tournament team along with Darrick Martin (St. Anthony), Sam Crawford (Westchester), Tank Collins (Pomona) and Coleman. Collins tied former Mater Dei star Tom Lewis’ tournament record of 122 points in four games.

In other tournament games:

Inglewood 65, Servite 51--The Friars (5-5) made only 6 of 27 shots in the second half and lost their bid for fifth place. Two of those field goals came after Coach Larry Walker cleared his bench in the final two minutes.

The Friars were never in the game, falling behind, 17-6, at the outset as Inglewood continually burned them for easy layups. The Friars’ slide continued in the third quarter when they missed six layups.

Center Nick Marusich was the only bright spot for Servite, scoring 11 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Friar forward Tony Smalley made only 3 of 13 shots.

Servite was held scoreless for nearly 4 1/2 minutes in the third quarter before guard Shawn Sullivan hit a baseline jump shot with 3:38 remaining. By then, Inglewood had a 13-point lead and coasted to its sixth win in 10 outings.

In the San Dieguito Tournament:

Oceanside El Camino 61, Newport Harbor 33--Edmund Johnson scored 24 points to lead El Camino (6-1) over the Sailors (2-3) in the championship quarterfinal game at Encinitas. John Alstrom and Tyler Koon each scored nine points for Newport Harbor.

San Clemente 60, San Pascual 50--Rob Buhler scored 19 points and had seven rebounds in the consolation quarterfinal game. Mark Broccardo added 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Tritons (2-6).

In nonleague action:

Mayfair 71, Garden Grove 67--Bob Partin scored 18 points for Mayfair at Garden Grove. Jeff Finch scored 26 points and Octavio Contreras 18 for the Argonauts (3-5).