High School Basketball Playoffs : Inbound Play Triggers 49-47 Christian Win

David Jerimiah took a nice inbound pass from Jon Okken and scored a layup with 13 seconds left Wednesday night to lead Christian High School over Clairemont, 49-47, in the first round of the boys’ 2-A basketball playoffs.

Christian (17-9) snaped a three-game losing streak and will play at Castle Park (20-4) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

“It’s just a read,” Okken said of the play that has Doug Lake set a pick for Jerimiah. “As soon as he turns the corner I know he’s open. Coach (Randy Wright) had a great call.”

Christian took advantage of the strong inside play of sophomore center Darrel White to take a 17-point halftime lead. Mike Hausam tipped in a missed shot at the end of the half for a 29-12 Christian advantage.

“I emphasized to the kids that there was no other way to go but up,” Clairemont Coach Greg Lee said of his halftime speech. “I told them to try to make as many things happen as possible, and they did.”

Clairemont forced Christian into 10 second-half turnovers, which helped in a 9-1 run at the end of the third quarter that closed the gap to 39-32.

In the first half, White used his bulk to get inside of Clairemont’s slimmer Vic Baer--a 6-foot 6-inch center--and score nine first-half points. But White picked up three third-quarter fouls and fouled out with 7:23 left. Forward Joe Vraneza fouled out with three minutes left.

Clairemont had closed to 45-42 on the strength of Baer’s inside play, and Wright was looking for answers.

“There was no way we could go inside with the kids who were on the floor,” he said.

Clairemont (16-8) had outscored Christian, 9-0, through the middle of the final quarter to take a 47-45 lead on a Ray McDavid basket with 1:47 left. But 17 seconds later, Okken was fouled and made both ends of the one-and-one to tie the score.