Division I Boys’ Basketball Playoffs : Morse Speed Is Undoing of Valhalla

When fastbreaking offenses such as Morse’s and Valhalla’s are put on the same court, something has to give.

Tuesday night, it was Valhalla.

Seventh-seeded Morse, the defending 3-A champion, ran and jammed its way to a 64-54 victory over third-seeded Valhalla to advance to the San Diego Section Division I championship against Santana Friday at the Sports Arena.

“How do you slow the pace down when you have athletes like that?” asked Valhalla Coach Manny Silva. “They just kept penetrating our zone.”

Said Morse Coach Ron Davis: “We play best at that pace.”

After a series of fastbreaks and a three-pointer by guard Willie Davis, Morse opened a 9-2 lead in the first period. Morse (19-9) increased it to 28-18 midway through the second period on a slick behind-the-back pass on the fastbreak from Willie Davis to Marcus Combs.

Combs led the Tigers with 31 points, including 20 in the first half.

“Marcus has been playing a lot better the last few games,” Ron Davis said. “I felt it was time for him to start breaking loose. He couldn’t have done it at a better time.”

Valhalla (17-8) made a comeback in the opening minutes of the fourth period after Rafid Kiti hit a three-pointer from the right baseline, cutting the deficit to 50-43.

Morse just revved up the fastbreak midway through the period, scoring nine consecutive points to take a 61-47 lead with 2:58 remaining.

Valhalla’s Kiti was the leader of the fastbreak in the Grossmont League this season, but Tuesday he was held to 11 points.

Perhaps no other team benefitted more this season from the new five-division playoff format than Morse, which had been in the large-school championship game six times in the last nine seasons. In the past, the Tigers’ third-place finish in the City Eastern League would have left them hoping for an at-large berth for the playoffs. But under the new format, every team was invited to the playoffs.