ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Angelus League : Servite Outruns and Outlasts Bishop Amat in Wide-Open Game

Concerning Servite High School’s Angelus League victory over Bishop Amat Friday, this much is certain: The score was 72-69, it was the league opener for each team and the game was played at Servite.

After that things get kind of sketchy. Make that blurry. As in the blurs of humanity that made their ways up and down the Servite court. This was the kind of game that left a lot of people exhausted and gasping for air. And those were the spectators.

Punch these in your calculator:

- The teams combined for 75 points in the second half.

- They combined for 40 points in the first quarter alone.

- Servite (1-0, 9-7) needed most of its 28 fourth-quarter points after trailing by 7 after the third quarter.

About that last point, Servite scoring 28 points in the fourth quarter: That’s where things get cloudy.

Consider that the Friars scored only 11 points in the third quarter. In that quarter, starting center Nick Marusich and backup center John Arabia each got his fourth foul.

With those two in trouble Bishop Amat center Geoff Lear and guard Stephon Pace seemed to take control of the game. Lear scored six in the quarter; Pace, often driving the key, scored 10.

Bishop Amat (0-1, 12-5) entered the fourth quarter ahead 51-44, and seemingly in control of the game. A team made up predominately of underclassmen, Bishop Amat had pursued an exhaustive transition game all night.

Using eight players, Alex Acosta, the Bishop Amat coach, seemed to have run Servite into the ground after three quarters. All that seemed left to do was the clean up.

Things got worse for Servite when Marusich fouled out with 4:41 left in the game. Also, Servite had to play the game with the limited services of Tony Smalley, the team’s leading scorer last season. Smalley had missed the entire week of practices because of an illness.

And from all this comes 28 points.

Six Servite players scored in the quarter. Guard Brian Kenney who scored six of his nine points in the fourth. Kenney made four free throws in the last 14 seconds. Shawn Sullivan scored six of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including a drive with 5:37 left that put the Friars ahead, 57-56.

Bishop Amat came back to build a 63-60 lead with 2:53 left on a lay up by Pace. Pace ended the game with 20 points.

A basket by Smalley and a free throw by Brett Caya tied the score at 63-63 with 2:15 left. At the 1:41 mark, Lear fouled out. He had fouled Arabia who made a free throw to give Servite a 64-63 lead that it would never relinquish.

“I think their big guy (Lear) fouling out was a big factor,” said Larry Walker, the Servite coach. “But there were a lot of things.”

Walker’s voice kind of trailed off at that point as he tried to consider what those things were. Finally he surmised.

“We just played excellent, I thought, in the fourth quarter,” he said.

Servite had led 21-19 after the first quarter. Sullivan, driving seemingly at will, scored 15 points in the quarter.

With Pace scoring seven points, Bishop Amat tied the score at 33-33 at the half.

Beyond Bishop Amat, Servite could look to itself as its own worst enemy through the first half. The Friars made only 5 of 14 free throws in the first half.

Mater Dei 71, Bishop Montgomery 48--The Monarchs’ 43rd consecutive win in the Angelus League over the last six seasons was a breeze as center LeRon Ellis scored 34 points in Torrance. The Monarchs (12-1) will meet Capistrano Valley at 7:30 tonight in Chapman College’s Hutton Sports Center.