Prep Wrap-Up : Mika Shows the Way for Palos Verdes

No player better exemplifies the fighting spirit of the Palos Verdes basketball team than point guard John Mika.

The 5-9 senior seemingly will go to any lengths to help his team win. That includes sacrificing his body, which Mika did Friday night while sparking the Sea Kings to a 65-62 win over Morningside in the opening round of the CIF 3-A basketball playoffs.

“I took a little beating, blood and everything, but that’s all right,” he said. “We won the game.”

Mika absorbed some punishment--he was cut on the chin and hit in the eye on two hard fouls in the closing minutes--but it was nothing compared to the pain he inflicted on the host Monarchs.

Taking command down the stretch, Mika scored Palos Verdes’ last six points on perfect free-throw shooting and came up with two steals in the final 1:54 to help his team to its sixth straight win.

The Sea Kings (17-8) will put their streak on the line Tuesday night in a second-round game with Savanna of Anaheim (22-4), which advanced with a 75-53 win over Bolsa Grande. Palos Verdes is the host team but must play at a neutral site. Coach John Mihaljevich said the game will be played at Rolling Hills or South Torrance.

Mihaljevich, who barked instructions to his players throughout the closely contested game, was pleased with Sea Kings’ ability to shut down Morningside guard Dwayne Lucas in the second half and come from behind after the Monarchs had opened a 41-36 lead early in the third quarter.

“I think this game certainly lived up to CIF (playoff) expectations,” he said. “We hung tough down the stretch, especially Mika. He had scratches and bruises all over him, but he’s a tough kid.”

Palos Verdes came out drilling from the outside to open an 11-2 lead, but Morningside answered with some long-range shooting of its own. Lucas hit four three-point shots, three in the second quarter, to help the Monarchs recover and take a 35-34 half-time lead.

In the second half, the Sea Kings switched to a box-and-one on Lucas, who was shadowed by Mika. The strategy worked, as Lucas managed only one point in the second half.

Mika also frustrated Lucas on the offensive end, dribbling around him on several occasions and twice maintaining his dribble while on his knees. A little showmanship never hurts in the playoffs.

“When they went to a man-to-man (defense) in the fourth quarter, I knew I could get by him,” said Mika, who had had trouble getting a shot against the 1-3-1 zone defense used by Morningside most of the game.

Against the man-to-man, Palos Verdes was able to spread the court and Mika was able to penetrate. His aggressiveness resulted in opportunities from the foul line, where he was eight for eight in the fourth quarter.

Mika saved his best moves for the final minute. With Palos Verdes clinging to a 63-62 lead, Mika stole the ball with 42 seconds left and helped run the clock down to 12 seconds before he was fouled by Lucas, who was sent to the bench with his fifth infraction.

Mika drained both ends of a one-and-one and then watched with his teammates as Morningside forward Kevin Lilley misfired from the three-point line as time expired. Twice earlier this season, Lilley had made three-point shots to send one game into overtime and win another.

“It was a tough loss to take,” said Morningside co-Coach Ron Randle, whose team finished at 16-9. “Both teams played a hard, disciplined game.”

Randle blamed free-throw shooting for the Monarchs’ downfall. While the Sea Kings made 11 of 12 foul shots in the fourth quarter, Morningside hit only 1 of 5 attempts.

“That was the determining factor in the game,” he said.

Another factor was the play of Palos Verdes’ three senior leaders. Mika and forwards Mike Matteoni and Jeff Whitley combined to score all but 10 of the Sea Kings’ points. Matteoni led the way with 22, followed by Whitley with 18 and Mika with 15.

All three started on last season’s team that reached the semifinals of the 3-A playoffs.

The way things have gone for Palos Verdes lately, getting that far again is not out of the question.

Said Mika: “People will have to reckon with us now.”

Palos Verdes’ victory was one of the few bright spots for the South Bay in the opening round of the CIF-Southern Section and L. A. City playoffs. The only other winners in the area, which was a collective 3-9 on Friday night, were Rolling Hills and Westchester.

Fourth-seeded Rolling Hills, the Bay League champion, opened the CIF 3-A playoffs with a convincing 80-47 win over Montclair. The Titans (19-6) will meet Western (17-7) in the second round on Tuesday night at Katella High in Anaheim.

Western advanced with a 67-58 upset over Pioneer League champion Leuzinger (18-6), one of three Pioneer teams to make an early exit from the playoffs. The others were Morningside and third-place El Segundo (12-10), which lost a 55-53 heartbreaker to Alhambra.

Burroughs of Ridgecrest now owns a 61-1 home record over the last nine years after defeating West Torrance, 81-76, in a 3-A opener. The Warriors (17-8) lost despite making eight three-point shots.

Inglewood (14-11), the third-place team from the Ocean League, lost a 4-A Division game to Buena of Ventura, 99-80, despite 46 points from forward Harold Miner. The 6-5 junior ended the season by averaging 42 points in his last three games.

Westchester was the only South Bay team to survive the first round of the City playoffs.

The Comets (19-5) rolled past Locke, 88-66, in a 4-A opener to set up an attractive match-up with Fairfax in the quarterfinals Wednesday at Fairfax.

Of the eight teams left in the City 4-A playoffs, five are from the Central League--top-seeded Crenshaw, Westchester, Washington, Fremont and Dorsey.

It was a long night for Harbor area teams. San Pedro (9-11), Carson (16-7) and Banning (8-14) all lost in 4-A openers, as did Narbonne (7-10) in a 3-A game.

St. Bernard, which opened the CIF 5-A basketball playoffs on Thursday with a 62-59 win over Marina, will play second-seeded Millikan in the quarterfinals on Thursday night at Loyola Marymount University.

“It’s a nice facility,” said St. Bernard Coach Jim McClune, whose team has played at LMU once this season. “The kids get excited playing in a big place like that. I don’t know if it will help or hurt our cause.”

Senior forward Eric Nelson helped put the Vikings in the quarterfinals by scoring 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting against Marina.

“He’s big time,” McClune said of his star. “He hit a couple of 18 footers just inside the three-point line, which is something he doesn’t normally do. He did a great job.”

Second-seeded Palos Verdes won a coin flip for the right to play at home on Tuesday against Hart of Newhall in the second round of the CIF 4-A boys soccer playoffs.

The Sea Kings (23-2-2) were the only South Bay team in the 4-A Division to advance, beating Bishop Montgomery, 3-0, Thursday for their 17th straight victory and 11th shutout of the season.

Hart, the Foothill League runner-up, advanced with a 2-0 win over Hawthorne, one of three South Bay teams to fall. Rolling Hills was shut out by top-seeded Mater Dei, 4-0, and West Torrance, last year’s 4-A co-champion, lost in penalty kicks after playing Fountain Valley to a 0-0 tie.

Bay League champion West Torrance and runner-up Torrance were the only girls soccer teams from the South Bay to win CIF 4-A playoff openers on Friday.

Second-seeded West shut out Santa Monica, 1-0, and will play at Claremont in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, while Torrance blanked St. Lucy’s, 2-0, to set up a meeting at El Toro in the next round.