SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES : BOYS’ 2-A : Banning (30-0) Snatches Title from Woodbridge

A grabbing, harassing Banning High School team stole the ball and the Southern Section 2-A boys’ basketball title from defending champion Woodbridge Saturday morning.

The 62-54 victory at the Sports Arena avenged last year’s loss to Woodbridge in the final. That game, which Woodbridge won in overtime, was the last time Banning--30-0 this season--has lost.

“We put ourselves on a mission this year,” said Coach Stan Smith, whose team struggled in Wednesday’s semifinal against Santa Clara before winning, 69-68.

Both teams were looking forward to the rematch, in part because of the emotion involved in last year’s game, when a bench-clearing brawl erupted in the fourth quarter, spurred by a Banning foul.

But Banning didn’t need any cheap shots to get its revenge. Though Woodbridge, as Coach Bill Shannon pointed out, undoubtedly had the best athlete on the floor in star center Adam Keefe, Banning had the best team.

Three Banning players scored in double figures: guard/forward Andre Stringer with 19 points, center Dennis Gray with 17 and guard David Efferson with 14.

In contrast, all Woodbridge had was Keefe, who scored 31 points (making 13 of 18, or 72%, from the floor) and had 12 rebounds. No other Warriors even came close. The team’s second-highest scorer was guard David Villaran, who added seven points coming off the bench.

Keefe, who gave his team the momentum in its semifinal victory over San Bernardino when he scored the first 12 points, said he never felt in control of the championship game.

“Every time we’d start to get a run, they’d make the play they needed to,” Keefe said. “We never had the ball long enough to be in control of the game.”

That lack of control was apparent from the outset. Woodbridge turned the ball over four times in the first two minutes of the game, giving Banning an early lead, which it never relinquished.

Banning’s two guards, Chris Familetti and Efferson--both only 5-feet 9-inches--led Banning’s full-court press, swatting and grabbing at the ball and usually succeeding in getting Woodbridge to turn it over.

Woodbridge committed 20 turnovers. Though Banning frequently gave the ball right back--the Broncos committed 18 themselves--the Warriors couldn’t do much with it.

Banning played man-to-man defense, double-teaming Keefe inside and giving Woodbridge the outside shot.

It wasn’t much of a gift. The Warriors’ usually effective three-point game was ice-cold. Woodbridge, which shot just 42% from the floor, was 1 of 15 from beyond the three-point line, with the only successful shot coming from forward Rob Lee early in the fourth quarter.

That shot drew Woodbridge to within three points, 46-43. The Warriors would narrow Banning’s lead even more, when Villaran was fouled on a basket, good for a three-point play, making the score 48-46.

But the Broncos retaliated with a three-point shot of their own, and a Woodbridge turnover gave Stringer a clear path to a flying, one-handed dunk. Banning again had a comfortable seven-point lead, 53-46.

Stringer was successful driving the lane all day. Center Gray hovered on the perimeter, drawing Keefe outside and leaving the inside open for Stringer.

The loss put Woodbridge’s season record at 22-6, but it may not be the final game of the season. Shannon is still hoping for an at-large berth in the Division II regional playoffs but will not find out his team’s status until today.

So it is possible that the loss to Banning was the final Woodbridge game for senior Keefe. If it was, the Sports Arena provided a fitting transition from past to future. Keefe watched Stanford, the school he will play for next year, defeat USC, 73-65, Saturday afternoon, on the same court on which he had been disappointed Saturday morning.