Savanna Beats Bolsa Grande to the Wire

In the span of 1 minute and 29 seconds, Savanna High School’s 10-point fourth-quarter lead was cut to 2 by Bolsa Grande.

The capacity crowd watching the Southern Section 3-A opening-round boys’ basketball playoff game at Savanna braced itself for what promised to be a frantic finish.

But then it all came unraveled with Joe Small, Bolsa Grande’s best player and the one who led the comeback, fouling out. And thus Savanna held on for a 75-63 victory.

Savanna (22-4) advances to the second round against Palos Verdes Tuesday. Bolsa Grande finishes 15-10.

Small, a senior forward, had 28 points, mostly on tightly guarded jump shots. Often there seemed to be no way he could get the ball off because of the constant pressure of Savanna’s Bob Rivera.

Savanna countered with 28 points from Robby Booker, a senior forward, and 15 points and 6 blocked shots by Eric Shinkle, a senior center.

“The points were nice,” Savanna Coach Tom Gregory said of Booker’s career-high night. “We liked his intensity level when he went after loose balls and rebounds. The points were icing on the cake.”

However, the key to the game was Small’s fifth foul with 2:01 left and Bolsa Grande in contention.

With 4:50 left, Savanna led, 61-51, on Shinkle’s free throw.

Small made a jumper, Damon Fisher then stole a pass and scored on a layup and Small hit two free throws. His jumper with 3:21 left ended the Matador flurry and they trailed, 61-59.

Savanna extended the lead to 65-59 on baskets by Booker and Shinkle, then Small was called for elbowing as he tried to get room for a jumper.

“(Small) had four offensive fouls in the game,” Bolsa Grande Coach Ron Inman said. “(With him in the game) we could have won for sure.”

Said Gregory: “He was too big for our quick guys and too quick for our big kids.”

When Small, who averaged 23.2 points a game, went to the bench the Matadors’ chances went with him. Savanna pulled away in the final minutes, making 8 of 11 free throws down the stretch.

Booker was the main reason Savanna built its 10-point lead. In the first 4:10 of the fourth quarter, Booker had all but 4 of the Rebels’ 15 points in the quarter.