Saugus Finally Reaches the End of Improbable Playoff Road

The most improbable, unpredictable team in the state basketball tournament did the expected moments after it was at long last eliminated.

Players sobbed and hugs were exchanged. When eyes finally dried, everyone spoke in the restrained, yet celebratory tones reserved for the death of a loved one who had enjoyed a long and rich life.

The Saugus High basketball team was defeated by Woodbridge, 65-53, Saturday at the Sports Arena in the state regional Division II final. The Centurions were finally dead.

But, oh, how they had lived.

After finishing third in the Golden League, Saugus (23-10) was unranked and without respect, able to squeeze into the playoffs only as a wild card. The Centurions--make that the New Centurions--won seven straight playoff games, including the Southern Section 3-A championship. The team won as many games in the postseason as it had during the league campaign.

“I’m disappointed in the loss but not disappointed overall,” senior center Jeff Dorst said. “At first, I was just happy to get to the playoffs. After we beat Katella in the second round, we knew we could beat anyone.”

Saugus beat Hart in a wild-card game, then reeled off wins against Katella (the second-seeded team), California, Tustin, and Palos Verdes before beating Rolling Hills, 66-53, in the 3-A final. A semifinal state regional win over Oceanside was the team’s last victory.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime shot,” senior forward John Thomas said. “We just kept thinking, ‘One team has to win, why not us?’ ”

Coach John Clark knew the end had to come. A marginally talented team can only run up the down escalator for so long.

“My senior kids, especially, understand winning and losing,” Clark said. “Losing is part of this. At this level of competition you play with confidence but can’t expect to win.”

Against Woodbridge and its 6-8 center, Adam Keefe, Saugus couldn’t expect to win after scoring four points in the second quarter. Keefe and 6-7 forward Vince Bryan kept the ball away from 6-4 Rusty Morse, the Centurions’ top scorer with an average of 18 points a game.

There was very little of the Saugus senior’s special Morse code . . . dit, dit, deuce. He had 12 points and made only 5 of 15 shots.

“They were just big,” Morse said.

Saugus made only 7 of 28 shots in the first half and fell behind, 30-14, but pulled to within eight points in the fourth quarter with a tough, scrappy running game.

The strategy made sense against the taller Warriors--the Centurions had to turn the Sports Arena into a version of the Saugus Speedway to have a chance.

“Maybe we should have done that earlier in the game,” Clark said. “The officials didn’t call any fouls. They let both teams play and that hurt us inside.”

Even when the outcome was apparent, roguish Saugus players were diving for loose balls and generally spending as much time on the floor as the Sports Arena scrubwoman.

“We did a good job coming back,” said senior Jackson Clark, who is the coach’s son. “We started hustling and got all those steals. Every playoff game we’ve felt that the game was ours at the end. This time we were never close enough to feel that way.”