Harper Takes Center Stage as Madison Wins, 79-72

Jeff Harper, playing in the shadow of more publicized Madison teammates, took center stage Tuesday night and led his team to a 79-72 Division II semifinal victory over El Camino at Torrey Pines High.

All year long, Harper has been overshadowed by teammates Robby Robinson, a junior forward, and Jeff Alexander, a senior center, as the Warhawks’ put together a 25-2 record and earned the No. 2-seeding in the playoffs.

But against El Camino, Harper scored a game-high 27 points and carved up at least three different El Camino defenders along the way.

Harper hit 9 of 10 free throws and managed a pair of three-point jumpers, one each at the end of the second quarter and third quarter, to help Madison move into the section final Friday in the Sports Arena against Kearny.

“Harper was the one guy we just couldn’t stop,” El Camino Coach Ray Johnson said. “Madison has a lot of weapons, but he was the one who caused us the most problems.”

Harper’s penetrating drives to the basket opened things up inside for forward Andre Mitchell in the first quarter and Mitchell scored eight first-quarter points to help Madison stay even at 19 after a slow start.

In the second quarter, Harper’s drives drew fouls and he hit eight straight free throws as Madison took a small lead. Then, at the halftime buzzer, his 25-footer for three points gave the Warhawks a 42-35 lead.

“We’ve had different guys do it for us in different games all year,” Madison Coach Jim Thompson said. “Jeff just took it upon himself to do it in this game.”

Mitchell finished with 19 points and Alexander helped out with 15, but this game belonged to Harper, a player who earlier this season complained to his coach that the other players on the team were getting too much media attention.

This time, Harper even managed to take the spotlight away from El Camino’s Scott Oatsvall, who scored 29 points, most on twisting moves inside, and did plenty to keep the Wildcats (22-5) in the contest until the final few minutes.