SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : 3-A : Tustin Rallies to Top Morningside, 68-54

Until last Friday night, it had been five seasons since Tustin High School last won a Southern Section playoff game. The Tillers first-round victory over Buena Park was cause for celebration for Coach Tim O’Brien and his players.

It appears the Tillers aren’t quite ready to quit celebrating. Tuesday night, they advanced to the 3-A quarterfinals with a 68-54 victory over Morningside in front of a near-capacity crowd at Foothill High School.

Senior center Leo Parker had a game-high 21 points and senior forward Rog Middleton survived foul trouble to finish with 14 points and 14 rebounds to lead Tustin into a quarterfinal meeting with wild-card entry Saugus, and make for a rough morning after at Morningside.

The Monarchs (15-10) had their six-game winning streak snapped by being outscored, 28-12, in the fourth quarter. They led, 52-51, with 4:50 to play but began taking ill-advised, long-range jumpshots with groups of Tillers waiting to collect each rebound. Once they did, they were usually fouled. And once they were fouled, they usually made their free throws.

Said Morningside Coach Carl Franklin: “Those last four minutes, we got one shot every time down, and they went to the boards hard. They didn’t have to score many baskets. They just went to the line and capitalized. I don’t even have to look at the score book. I know that’s what happened.”

Tustin converted 16 of 19 fourth-quarter free throws to turn what had been a close, back-and-forth game into something of a rout. The Tillers may have gotten their biggest points, though, on back-to-back field goals by one of their smallest players. Vern Broadnax, a 5-foot 10-inch senior guard who has spent most of the season trying to think up new ways to get the ball into the hands of Middleton and Parker, scored 18 points. Of those, 10 came in the fourth quarter, including the ones that gave the Tillers the lead for good.

It began inauspiciously enough. Broadnax had dribbled his way into a turnover that led to an easy basket for Morningside guard Tarron Wiley. The basket gave the Monarchs a one-point lead with 4:50 to play.

But on Tustin’s next trip down the floor, Broadnax penetrated the lane and got a hanging jumper to fall in, drawing a foul in the process. Nobody bothered to box Broadnax out on the ensuing free throw. It was short, and he got his own rebound and threw in a short jumper to give Tustin a sudden, 55-52 lead. The Tillers (21-5) used good free-throw shooting to extend that lead in the closing minutes.

Broadnax’s effort helped make up for the time Middleton spent on the bench in foul trouble. Middleton picked up his third foul with 3:38 left in the first half, then got No. 4 with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

The fact that the Tillers won in spite of Middleton’s limited playing time was all the more reason for O’Brien to feel like celebrating.

“A 14-point win against that team . . . that’s exciting,” he said. “We haven’t faced athletes of that caliber and quantity all year.”