St. Bernard Squeezes Past Millikan, 59-54

There’s nothing like a missed dunk to take the wind out of a basketball team. St. Bernard forward Eric Nelson realized that when he botched a slam midway through the fourth quarter on Thursday night against Millikan.

But it didn’t stop him from attempting another one.

Nelson’s dunk off an alley-oop pass from guard Vincent Williams with 1:12 remaining sent his teammates into a frenzy and helped St. Bernard reach the CIF 5-A semifinals with a 59-54 playoff win at Loyola Marymount University.

“Because I messed up the first time, I wanted to come back and try it again,” he said.

The dunk gave the Vikings a 58-54 lead, which remained secure through the final minute when Millikan missed several scoring chances. The second-seeded Rams were shut out in the last 2:05 of the game.

“We played good defense,” said St. Bernard Coach Jim McClune. “Eric is the best defensive player I’ve ever seen.”

Aside from scoring a game-high 14 points, the 6-4 Nelson pulled down 12 rebounds, had five steals and held 6-7 forward Dion Robinson of Millikan to 10 points.

St. Bernard (20-7), which lost twice to Mater Dei in Angelus League play, will get another crack at the Monarchs in the semifinals Wednesday. Mater Dei (19-7) advanced with a 55-49 win over Edison.

Asked after the game if he would enjoy playing Mater Dei again, McClune replied: “That would be an honor.”

Point guard Keith Brown gave the Vikings the lead for good, 56-53, on a three-point shot with 2:16 left. Millikan (21-5) cut the deficit to one on a free throw by Robinson.

Millikan got the ball back, but St. Bernard center Ed Stokes blocked a shot in the key and reserve forward Tige Yeargin made a diving save to keep the ball in play for the Vikings. Williams got the ball up court and made a perfect pass to Nelson above the right side of the rim.

“Missed dunks have cost us in a couple of games,” McClune said. “But you have to take the good with the bad. If I had a no-dunk rule, my team would kill me.”

Junior forward Juno Armstrong had 13 points, seven rebounds and five steals for St. Bernard before fouling out with 2:09 left. The 6-10 Stokes and Brown each added 11 points.

Millikan, last year’s 5-A runner-up, opened a 20-10 lead in the first quarter on 10-of-15 shooting. But the Rams were only five of 15 in the second quarter, as St. Bernard forced seven turnovers with its pressure defense and took a 32-31 half-time lead on Mark Raveling’s last-second three-point shot.