Bell-Jeff Stall Spells the End for Chaminade

The only option for Chaminade High when Bell-Jeff went into a four-corners stall in the fourth quarter Wednesday was to foul. It signaled the beginning of the end for the Eagles.

Bell-Jeff, which has only three seniors on its 13-player roster, proceeded to make 14 of 17 free throws, including 9 of 10 by Chris Dyer, to knock off Chaminade, 77-58, in a Santa Fe League game at Bell-Jeff.

Chaminade (12-8, 7-4 in league play) dropped its third consecutive game and fell two games behind Harvard and Bell-Jeff (13-6, 9-2) with three games left.

Bell-Jeff, predicted to finish fifth in the league in a preseason coaches poll, won its sixth game in a row and put an end to talk that the Guards are a team of the future.

“Next year’s a long time away, we’re going to do it now,” vowed Bell-Jeff senior Henry Polee, who scored 19 points. “Besides, I’ll be gone then.”

The senior point guard was anything but gone in the fourth quarter. Teammates gave him the ball inside and Polee responded with 8 of the Guards’ first 10 points in the quarter.

“I said to my teammates in the huddle, ‘Give me the ball. I want to take control of the game,’ ” Polee said.

Polee scored eight points in the second quarter and capped a 12-2 run near the end of the quarter with a half-court alley-oop pass to Nick Sanderson that made the score 31-24.

Sanderson, who finished with 10 points--nine below his season average--hit a 20-foot jump shot from the left wing to put Bell-Jeff comfortably ahead, 45-34, midway through the third quarter.

Chaminade, with six points from Pete Miller, evened the score, 45-45, with 11 consecutive points and tempered the emotions of the Bell-Jeff fans who filled the gym to capacity.

“I knew we were in trouble when they began to hold the ball,” Chaminade Coach Mike Lynn said. “We probably went after them too early, but I knew they’d hold the ball the rest of the game if we didn’t go after them.”

The Eagles, led by Miller’s 14 points, were outscored, 30-13, in the fourth quarter, hitting just 5 of 19 shots. Dyer scored 11 of his 19 points in the final quarter and finished with 8 rebounds and 6 assists.