SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : 5-A Quarterfinals : Joe’s Layup and Steal Give St. Monica a 63-61 Victory Over Ocean View

As expected, two seniors bound for major colleges, Brian Williams and Jason Matthews, dominated St. Monica High School’s Southern Section 5-A quarterfinal game against Ocean View Friday night.

Williams, a 6-foot 10-inch center who is headed for the University of Maryland, scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked 9 shots. Matthews, a 6-3 guard who will play at Pittsburgh next fall, scored a game-high 24 points.

But it was junior guard Jason Joe who stole the show in the final 20 seconds to lead St. Monica to a 63-61 victory over the Seahawks in front of 1,200 at Santa Monica High School.

With the score tied, 61-61, Joe stole a pass near midcourt with 20 seconds left and drove for a layup that gave St. Monica a 63-61 lead with 16 seconds remaining.

Then, as Ocean View worked the ball around for a possible game-tying shot, Joe stole Ricky Butler’s pass in the front court with eight seconds left, and the Mariners ran out the clock to earn a berth opposite Mater Dei in Wednesday night’s semifinals at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

“He’s the lead man on defense, he’s extremely quick and reads offenses well,” St. Monica Coach Leo Klemm said of Joe. “I told him during the timeout to overplay the lanes and go after the ball.”

Ocean View had trailed by nine, 53-44, entering the fourth period, but the Seahawks came back behind a stingy defense--which produced seven turnovers in the quarter--and the play of guard Todd Pickard and forward Butler.

Pickard opened the quarter with two outside jumpers and a follow shot, and Butler scored nine of his 21 points in a two-minute span to give Ocean View a 61-59 lead with 1:35 to go.

But just when it appeared that everything was falling apart for St. Monica, Williams, who had scored most of his points from inside and had two monstrous dunks, swished a soft 14-foot jump shot to tie the score at the 1:19 mark.

Ocean View took two shots at the other end, but Williams swatted away attempts by Geoff Graves and Doug Rice, and the second block went out of bounds. The Seahawks had another chance, but Joe, who finished with 12 points, came up with his two big plays to put the Mariners in front to stay.

The Seahawks (18-7) started strong, opening a 10-point lead, 20-10, in the first quarter. Butler and forward Desi Hazely, who had 16 points, powered their way inside against Williams, each scoring 10 points in the first period.

But the Ocean View forwards fell victim to Williams in the second and third periods. Butler took only three shots and had two points, and Hazely had only six points in that span.

“He ruled the key defensively for a long time,” Ocean View Coach Jim Harris said. “We have some pretty powerful people, and it takes a lot to take (the inside game) away from us over and over. That guy is a big-time shot-blocker.”

Matthews is a big-time shooter. He continually burned the Seahawks from outside, making 11 of 19 shots from the field. He scored eight points in the third quarter when St. Monica (20-6) stretched a 34-32 halftime lead to 46-34 midway through the quarter.

Ocean View cut it to six, 48-42, with about two minutes left in the period. At that point, the game turned into a slam-dunk contest between Williams and Hazely.

Williams’ one-hand slam at 1:27 nearly tore the rim off the backboard. Hazely then bent the rim with a thundering, two-handed slam on the other end. However, he drew a technical foul for hanging on to the rim.

Matthews made the free throw and followed with a jump shot with one second left to give the Mariners their 53-44 lead entering the final quarter, and St. Monica was able to hang on.

“I wanted these guys to have the experience of walking into the arena,” Harris said. “They’re good enough to, but this year, it wasn’t meant for us to have it all.”