Southern California Regionals : Keefe Isn’t Enough for Woodbridge in 67-64 Loss to Madison

Balance was better than bulk on Thursday night in San Diego Madison High School’s 67-64 win over Woodbridge in the semifinals of the Southern California Regional Division II boys’ basketball playoffs at Torrey Pines High.

Madison used balanced scoring and rebounding from four players and simply wore down Woodbridge’s 6-foot 9-inch, 230-pound center, Adam Keefe, in the process to reach the championship game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

The Warhawks (28-2) will meet Bakersfield Foothill, with the winner advancing to the state championship game on March 19 in Oakland. Woodbridge, defending state champion, finished the season at 23-7, but not before staging a late rally that nearly caught Madison.

Woodbridge trailed, 60-52, with 3:51 remaining, but scored six straight points in less than a minute with a couple of Madison turnovers contributing toward three free throws and a three-point shot. But then Madison’s Robby Robinson made a free throw and a baseline jump shot to give the Warhawks a five-point cushion, 63-58.

Woodbridge moved to within a point, 65-64, when guard Rob Lee made a three-point shot with 10 seconds remaining, but the Warriors failed to call timeout on the ensuing out-of-bounds play, or foul an opponent until only three seconds remained.

“We wanted to call time out, and we told the players to call it, but they didn’t do it,” Woodbridge Coach Bill Shannon said. “I think we played very poorly for more than three quarters and then made a good run at the end.

“I feel good about the run, but on the other hand, I’m disappointed that we didn’t play well for most of the game.”

Keefe scored 34 points and had 20 rebounds, but the fast pace and physical play inside took its toll in the second half when he made only 3 of 9 field goal attempts. Guard Derrick Odum was the only other player who provided much offense, scoring 12 points on four three-point shots.

“You saw a great player against four good athletes tonight,” Shannon said. “Adam had to do a heck of a lot and still played a very good ballgame. But he couldn’t do it alone.”

The Warriors played without starting forward Chris Deibert, who had been suspended before the game for breaking a school rule, according to Shannon. Deibert was replaced by junior P.A. Emerson, and Emerson didn’t offer Keefe much help defending Madison’s inside game.

“It wasn’t my decision to suspend Chris, but I agreed with it 100%,” Shannon said. “We felt that we needed some three-point shots to beat Madison, and we didn’t get them until the last quarter.”

Woodbridge missed nine three-point attempts until Odum helped the Warriors find the range in the last quarter. Until then, Madison had controlled the game and built an 11-point lead, 43-32, early in the third quarter when forward Robinson made two straight shots.

Andre Mitchell (18 points, 11 rebounds), Robinson (17 points, 6 rebounds), guard Jeff Harper (14 points, 5 assists) and center Jeff Alexander (8 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocked shots) led the Warhawks. Jim Thompson, Madison coach, said the balanced attack was a typical performance for his team.

“It was business as usual,” he said. “Nobody stood out, just five guys doing a good job on both ends of the floor.

“I told the team that to counter Adam Keefe, we had to do three things: pressure the ball defensively, push the ball up the court offensively and pack in the middle (against Keefe).

“I also said if we could keep them in the 50s, we had a good chance of winning because we rarely score under 60 points. Keefe was everything that people say about him. What a great player!”