High School Basketball Roundup : Monte Vista Wins Title Just in the Nick of Time

Joe McNaull, the center for the Monte Vista High School basketball team, knew it was going in. Coach Zack Peck knew as well. The one thing forward Jeff Polinsky wasn’t sure of was the time on the clock when the soft left-handed jumper left his fingers.

Sometime between 00:01 and 00:00 is about right. The shot hit nothing but net to give Monte Vista a 38-37 victory over Helix and the championship of the Grossmont League’s 3-A Division Tuesday evening at Monte Vista.

“I had no idea what time it was,” Polinsky said after crawling out from under a pile of teammates and fans.

With 3:54 remaining, it didn’t appear as if No. 8 Monte Vista would get a chance to shoot to win. With McNaull, a 6-foot-9 junior, spending 5:39 through the middle of the second half on the bench with four fouls, Helix (16-6, 6-2) had gone on a 11-2 run to take a 35-32 lead.

McNaull left the game with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter. The run began with Helix’s 6-8 senior center, John Pressler, scoring at the buzzer to end the period and had reached 9-2 when Peck put McNaull back in with 5:14 to play. But by the time the run ended on a rebound basket by Chris Masilon, Monte Vista had begun to turn things around.

Helix abandoned the patient offense that allowed it to stay in the game and started jamming the ball inside to Pressler, who went straight after McNaull looking for the fifth foul. The first time, Pressler dribbled the ball off his foot. The next four times, Pressler leaned into McNaull as he shot. But McNaull held his ground, and the shots wouldn’t fall.

“I knew they were going to try to foul me out,” McNaull said. “I had to keep my feet and not commit any stupid fouls.”

Only once did someone other than McNaull grab those missed shots, and that was when Masilon got his only basket of the game.

Monte Vista then came back. Jason Peters hit a shot in the lane with 2:30 to play to cut the deficit to 35-34. After rebounding a Pressler miss, McNaull came down and drilled a 10-foot baseline turnaround over his counterpart for 36-35 lead with 1:52 to play.

Helix called timeout, then went to Pressler. McNaull rebounded, and Monte Vista began to stall the final minute away. Helix only had two team fouls, so fouling made no sense. Helix needed a steal.

With 15 seconds left, Monte Vista’s Curt Howard was trapped by three players in a corner at midcourt. Helix’s Todd McTrusty stole the ball and drove to the basket. Anticipating a foul, he tossed the ball wildly over his head with his right hand. To the amazement of most, it went in with 11 seconds left. Monte Vista called timeout with 8 seconds to go.

“We ran a special play to go inside to (McNaull) and run back door,” Polinsky said. “Howard screened for me, and I came across and shot the jumper.”

There appeared to be confusion as the play unfolded. Polinsky faked and dribbled into the lane, but it didn’t appear as if he would get the shot off.

“Jeff’s the guy you want the ball to go to,” Peck said. “He’s just an excellent shooter, he’s uncanny.”

Polinsky had 14 for Monte Vista (16-4, 8-0), and McNaull added 12 points, five rebounds and four blocks. Pressler had 21 points, two blocks and three rebounds for Helix.