Saugus Shakes a Rusty Start, Tops Hart, 63-56

Russell Morse lived up to his nickname for three quarters of Wednesday night’s Southern Section 3-A wild-card playoff game against crosstown rival Hart High.

He bricked, slipped and stumbled. He airballed, traveled and fouled. He was, in the true definition of his alternate moniker, quite “Rusty.”

But the slick-shooting senior forward found his touch just in time for Saugus. Morse scored his team’s first eight points of the fourth quarter to lead Saugus to a 63-56 victory.

Saugus will face Katella High on Friday in the first round of the playoffs.

“I was so nervous, I don’t know what I would have done if we’d lost this game,” Morse said. “I was seriously tense.”

So was the rest of the Saugus team, which trailed at the end of the first quarter, 13-8. Morse clanked his way through most of the first half, drawing a blank in the first quarter and totaling just five points by halftime.

“Geez, I threw up an airball on my first shot, missed a couple of easy inside shots,” Morse said. “I guess I needed time to settle down.”

Greg Weber kept Saugus close, scoring eight of his game-high 20 in the second period as the Centurions rallied for a 25-25 tie at the half.

Mike Michelson had 12 of his team-high 16 for Hart before intermission, but one Michelson wasn’t enough to stop Saugus in the second half. Hart’s coach--and Mike’s father--Doug Michelson, missed the game after being suspension earlier this week for punching an official.

Saugus broke a 31-31 tie by scoring eight unanswered points to take a 39-31 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter. Hart scored just eight points in the quarter and Saugus led by eight, 41-33, entering the final quarter.

Morse then went on a spree, scoring his team’s first eight points in the fourth quarter as Saugus built a 49-37 margin.

It wasn’t over yet. Hart responded with a basket by Steve Valenzuela, and when Eric Arnold converted after a bungled Saugus inbounds pass, the Centurion lead was cut to 53-46.

Minutes later, a pair of long jumpers by Valenzuela cut the Saugus lead to 55-50. But down the stretch, some clutch free throw shooting by Saugus held off Hart. Morse, who made 8 of 8 from the free throw line, was 6 for 6 in the fourth quarter.

Tom Bonds stole a Saugus pass and drove the length of the court to cut the lead to three at 59-56 with 22 seconds left, but Weber drilled both ends of a 1-and-1 to give Saugus a 61-56 lead.

Morse scored the last basket on a breakaway dunk to clinch the game.