High School Basketball Playoffs : Small Mount Miguel Uses Speed to Upset Torrey Pines, 60-53

The speed and quickness of Mount Miguel overcame the height of Torrey Pines as the Matadors upset the fifth-seeded Falcons, 60-53, in a first-round game of the San Diego Section 3-A basketball playoffs Tuesday night.

Ninth-seeded Mount Miguel (16-8) survived a festival of steals and turnovers and will next meet fourth-seeded Sweetwater (15-9) Friday in National City.

Mount Miguel’s up-tempo game plan successfully wore down Torrey Pines with constant full-court pressure that created numerous turnovers.

“They had the height, so we just wanted to put the pressure on them,” said Mount Miguel’s 5-foot 6-inch Jerome Tonsing.

Tonsing set the pace of the game by seemingly coming up with a steal whenever the Matadors needed it most.

“The plan was to put the pressure on them and take them out of their set offense,” Mount Miguel Coach Art Edge said. “We didn’t do that in the first half.”

Mount Miguel set the tone for the game when Tonsing stole the ball and drove in for a basket to give the Matadors a 2-0 lead.

Torrey Pines (19-7) recovered to take a 17-11 lead after the first quarter. Neither team could take control of the game in the second quarter.

After Mount Miguel cut the lead to 17-16, Torrey Pines scored five straight points to take a 22-16 lead. The Matadors, however, closed the gap by outscoring the Falcons, 7-2, and ended the half trailing Torrey Pines, 28-25.

Mount Miguel caught Torrey Pines at 33-33 on a basket by Chris Penman, who led the Matadors with 18 points.

Trailing, 35-33, Mount Miguel outscored Torrey Pines, 10-2, with 6 points coming after steals. The Matadors led at the end of three quarters, 45-39.

Torrey Pines pulled within 48-46 with 4:06 remaining. But the Matadors’ pressure defense had taken its toll and Mount Miguel again pulled away.

A key for Mount Miguel was stopping 6-6 Courtie Miller, who scored 11 points in the first half. Miller had only one point in the second half. Scot Thompson, a 6-6 guard, led Torrey Pines with 16 points. Haywood Mathis scored 16 points for Mount Miguel.