Southern Section Boys’ Basketball Playoffs : Defensive Effort Powers Bell-Jeff to 1st-Round Win Over Miraleste

A hawking defense and a high-scoring offense powered Bell-Jeff High to the final of the Southern Section 1-A Division playoffs last year. The Guards used those same elements to defeat Miraleste, 73-53, in a first-round game of the 2-AA Division playoffs Wednesday night at Bell-Jeff.

Trailing, 11-10, at the end of the first quarter, Bell-Jeff outscored Miraleste, 20-9, in the second quarter. The Guards forced 14 of Miraleste’s 32 turnovers during the period and made 10 of 16 shots from the field.

“We switched up our defenses on them,” Bell-Jeff Coach Joe Dunn said. “And it seemed to confuse them.”

The Guards went from a halfcourt trap to a fullcourt man-to-man defense that led to several easy baskets. In addition, Nick Sanderson scored eight of his game-high 30 points in the second period after going scoreless in the first quarter.

“Nick was forcing some shots early in the game,” Dunn said. “But we got our double screen in the lane going in the second quarter and he’s hard to stop then.”

Bell-Jeff (20-4), which snapped a two-game losing streak, also outrebounded the taller Marauders, 29-22.

Sanderson had nine rebounds and guard Chris Dyer had eight to go with 13 points and five assists.

In other first-round games:

5-AA DIVISION

St. Monica 79, Royal 56--John McFarland scored a game-high 23 points, including 10 in a pivotal third quarter, to lead St. Monica (20-5) at home. St. Monica outscored Royal, 22-11, in the third quarter to overcome a 35-33 halftime deficit.

J. P. Ouellette and Russell Myers each had 18 points for Royal (12-13), which made its first playoff appearance in 17 years.

4-AA DIVISION

Crespi 51, Warren 48 (2 OTs)--Crespi survived a tough Warren match-up zone to advance to the second round with the win at home. Ken Lynch scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds. Chris McGee had a chance to give Crespi (11-11) the win in regulation but missed a 15-foot jump shot at the buzzer.

McGee, who scored 11 points, hit a three-point shot with 34 seconds left in the first overtime to send the game into the second extra period.

Westlake 70, Whittier 57--The Warriors scored 14 unanswered points at the outset and Kurt Schwan scored a game-high 29 points and had 11 rebounds to lead host Westlake.

Jeff Maurer added 16 points for Westlake (16-9), which converted 18 of 37 field-goal attempts (48.6%). The Warriors were 33 of 50 from the free-throw line (66%).

Westlake jumped ahead, 31-25, at halftime and outscored Whittier, 30-23, in the fourth quarter.

3-A DIVISION

La Canada 64, St. Francis 63--La Canada took the lead in the last 20 seconds and St. Francis’ Dominick Mumolo missed a layup in a crowd of defenders with four seconds left as time ran out on the Golden Knights.

Trailing, 52-47, after three quarters, the Golden Knights held a four-point lead with three minutes left. La Canada (24-2) rallied, however, and caught St. Francis in the closing seconds.

Allen Freemon scored 18 points and Mumolo added 16 points for St. Francis (14-10). Jeff Dyrek added 12 points and Tom Parada had 10 points for the Golden Knights.

2-AA DIVISION

Cathedral 64, St. Genevieve 60--Cathedral overcame an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to dispatch the visiting Valiants.

Ron Nielson had 24 points and 15 rebounds and Marc Colon added 12 points for St. Genevieve (13-10).

2-A DIVISION

Carpinteria 74, Village Christian 66--Mike Curl, who led Village Christian scorers with 16 points, fouled out in the last five minutes as Carpinteria rallied to defeat the host Crusaders.

Carpinteria (11-13) made 17 of 21 free throws in the fourth quarter as the Crusaders were forced to foul in the last five minutes after losing Curl.

Dan Finerty had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Ben Evans had 14 points and seven assists for Village Christian (10-13).

1-A DIVISION

Oakwood 88, Dunn 50--Mitchell Butler sat out part of the second quarter because of illness but still scored a game-high 34 points for Oakwood at Campbell Hall High. Butler had four dunks in the first half, including a 360-degree slam, as the Gorillas jumped to leads of 8-0 and 20-5 lead and outscored Dunn in every quarter.

Butler, who has scored in double figures in 21 games this season, also had 16 rebounds and six steals. Darin Margules added 13 points and seven assists for the Gorillas (17-5).

Montclair Prep 62, Chadwick 53--Junior forward Jason Gerber made nine of 14 field-goal attempts and scored a game-high 23 points to lead host Montclair Prep.

Sophomore guard J. T. Billingslea scored 12 points and Robert Thomas scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter as Montclair Prep (18-9) held off Chadwick (8-16).

Holy Martyrs 63, Thacher 59--Apik Minassian hit four free throws in the final 14 seconds to lead Holy Martyrs. The score was tied, 59-59, with 14 seconds left when Thacher stole the ball and called timeout but had none remaining.

Minassian shot two technical fouls for Holy Martyrs for a 61-59 lead.

After inbounding the ball after the technical, Minassian was fouled again and shot two more free throws.

Hagop Jibilian scored a game-high 24 points for Holy Martyrs and Minassian added 16.

Camp Kilpatrick 30, Windward 15--The Mustangs overcame a Windward stall and outscored the Wildcats, 15-5, in the second half of the game at Culver City High.

Chris Haywood scored a game-high nine points for Camp Kilpatrick (19-4).

SMALL SCHOOLS

North County Christian 56, Highland Hall 55--Stephen Balentine scored the game-winning basket with 12 seconds remaining as North County Christian rallied from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Robert Ramirez scored 15 points and had seven assists to lead Highland Hall (14-8).