Right Strategy, Wrong Result : Poway Tactic Backfires in Loss to No. 1 Torrey Pines

Statistics never lie, but they sometimes are misleading, as Poway Coach Neville Saner found out Wednesday night.

Faced with the choice of single-covering Torrey Pines’ big-front court duo of Courtie Miller and Kevin Flanagan with smaller players, or double-teaming them and leaving 33% shooter Dan Harriff free, Saner did what any other reasonable coach would do.

But he learned that Harriff doesn’t shoot 33% with nobody guarding him. In fact, he hit 4 of his 5 wide-open tries in the first half and 5 of 9 overall en route to a season-high 12 points.

And that, as much as anything else, was the reason the No. 1-ranked Falcons beat No. 3 Poway, 64-47, in a Palomar League game Wednesday night at Poway High.

There were other reasons, too--Poway made only 21 of 58 (36%) from the floor--but afterward, most of the talk centered on Saner’s strategy, which drew rave reviews but ultimately had to be considered a failure.

“If I had scouted us all season, I would have done the same thing he did,” Torrey Pines Coach John Farrell said. “The thing is, this team has lot more than just Courtie Miller and Kevin Flanagan.”

Saner helped Torrey Pines (20-1, 6-0) prove that Wednesday. Miller, though he finished with 17 points, was limited to just one field goal in the first half on three attempts. Flanagan managed just two shots from the field the entire game.

“Every time I came down the court, I noticed they were all over our big guys,” Harriff said.

And he also noticed that no matter how hard he tried, nobody was willing to pay any attention to him.

Faced with no other option, Harriff had to take the open shots, most of which came from just inside the free-throw line.

Harriff hit two baskets in each of the first two quarters, and Darren Cox made three outside jumpers as Torrey Pines breezed to a 29-20 halftime lead.

By this time, Saner had realized something else. He had hoped his two quick guards, Gabby Awbrey and Jay Blankenbeckler, would be able to out-perform Torrey Pines’ less heralded duo of Cox and Kyle Armstrong.

But that advantage wasn’t there. Cox and Armstrong played swarming defense in Torrey Pines’ 2-3 zone, and though Awbrey got 17 points, Blankenbeckler was limited to two.

Poway’s inside game, meanwhile, was stymied by Miller and Flanagan, who, after resting more than usual on the offensive end had plenty of energy left to intimidate on defense.

Poway (15-2, 4-2) was outrebounded (37-25) as well as outshot and in the end was left only with the thought of having 3 weeks to ponder what it might try when these two teams meet again.

Until then, at least, Torrey Pines is on the top of the heap.

“They’ll have to come and get us, now” Harriff said.

And next time, they may have to guard him.