Prep Wrapup : El Segundo Breaks Playoff Road Jinx

Rick Sabosky, whose previous playoff ventures away from home ended in disappointment, finally had a happy return trip Friday night.

The El Segundo High basketball coach couldn’t have been more satisfied after the Eagles drove 170 miles to Lompoc and stunned top-seeded Cabrillo, 73-70, in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section 2-AA playoffs.

The win ended a three-year postseason losing streak on the road for El Segundo (15-10), which meets Whittier Christian (20-6) in the semifinals Friday night at Sonora High in La Habra.

“The kids were so excited,” Sabosky said. “Everybody was jumping all around. We stopped on the way home in Santa Barbara and I was still soaking wet.”

Playing in a sweltering gym before a hostile crowd, El Segundo rallied behind senior forward Shawn Foster after it blew a 38-31 halftime lead and fell behind by seven points midway through the third quarter.

At that point, Sabosky said, the Eagles’ past playoff failures--losses at Alhambra, Burroughs of Ridgecrest and Brea-Olinda--crossed his mind.

“I was thinking, ‘They’re going to blow us out,’ ” he said. “But the kids hung in there.”

El Segundo rallied to tie the game, 48-48, entering the fourth quarter.

“From then on,” Sabosky said, “nobody could hear. Everything (Cabrillo) did raised the roof.”

Foster silenced the hometown crowd with about a minute to play when he stole the ball and scored a layup to put El Segundo ahead for good, 72-70. Another steal by the 6-4 senior set up a free throw by Craig Friesen, and Foster rebounded a three-point miss by Cabrillo to clinch the game.

“When the chips were down, he went crazy,” Sabosky said. “He wasn’t going to let us lose.”

Inglewood basketball Coach Vince Combs wonders what else can go wrong.

The Sentinels, who have confronted internal and external problems all season, had to overcome another obstacle Friday night in their 77-72 win over visiting Mission Viejo in the Southern Section 4-AA playoffs.

Inglewood played without 6-5 junior forward Steve King, who was declared academically ineligible last week. King was one of the Sentinels’ steadiest players during the regular season, averaging 12 points and eight rebounds.

“It is a big blow,” Combs said. “Losing his rebounding hurt us (Friday) night. Aside from that, we didn’t have a good effort. We weren’t up and we weren’t ready. We were fortunate to win.”

Inglewood (16-8) was the recipient of more good fortune Saturday when it won a coin flip to determine the home team for Wednesday night’s quarterfinal game against Ivy League champion Perris (21-5). The contest will be played at a yet-to-be-determined alternate site.

Losing King was the latest setback for a team that has been beset with turmoil. For example:

--Combs missed the first four games with kidney stones.

--Lack of funds prevented the team from making a planned trip to the King of the Bluegrass Tournament in Kentucky last December.

--Combs said he has been forced to discipline players for not carrying out his instructions on the court.

--Star forward Harold Miner was briefly sidelined with a sprained ankle.

“So many negative forces have been pulling at this team,” Combs said. “It’s amazing we’ve gotten this far.”

Miner, a 6-5 senior headed to USC, again led the way for the Sentinels against Mission Viejo with 35 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Guard Tommy Holland added 23 points, and 6-10 center Cory Johnson, in one of his best performances, had five blocked shots.

Rolling Hills’ 117-68 playoff win over Bellflower on Friday night marked the first time Cliff Warren had a team reach 100 points in nine seasons of coaching at El Segundo (1963-67) and Rolling Hills (1986-present).

The previous high was 99 points scored by the Titans earlier this season against El Segundo in the Pacific Shores Tournament.

“I really don’t like to get to 100 points, unless it takes 100 to win,” Warren said. “It will be a test after a blowout like that to come back and play mentally tough.”

The top-seeded Titans (24-4), who got a career-high 31 points from senior forward Ron Dinnel, head into the Southern Section 3-A Division quarterfinals Wednesday night against Corona del Mar (17-9) at Estancia High in Costa Mesa.

Rolling Hills beat Corona del Mar by two points in the 3-A semifinals two years ago, and Warren expects another close game. The Sea Kings finished third in the competitive Sea View League behind Saddleback, the top seed in the 5-AA playoffs, and Estancia, another 3-A quarterfinalist.

“When you get down to eight teams, you always have your hands full,” he said. “Corona del Mar is a disciplined team.”

Unlike Rolling Hills, which favors a fast-paced, high-scoring game, Corona del Mar likes to keep the score low. The Sea Kings beat Empire League champion El Dorado, 61-43, in the first round and defeated Laguna Hills, 69-61, Friday night.

With Friday’s runaway victory, Rolling Hills reached the quarterfinals of the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

Torrance guard Rick Robison broke out of a shooting slump Friday night to score 38 points and lead the visiting Tartars over Sunny Hills of Fullerton, 75-53, in the second round of the Southern Section 4-AA playoffs.

Robison, who made only 25 of 80 shots in three previous games, came out smoking in the second half against Sunny Hills by hitting 10 of 15 attempts from the floor. He finished 15-for-30, including seven 3-pointers.

The surprising Tartars (16-10) have a tough task awaiting them Wednesday night in the quarterfinals. They meet top-seeded San Bernardino (27-0) at San Gorgonio High in San Bernardino.

It will be 1986 revisited Wednesday night when Morningside (21-4) meets Brea-Olinda (21-7) in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section 3-A playoffs at Sonora High in La Habra.

Brea-Olinda defeated the Monarchs in the ’86 quarterfinals, when center Kevin Walker (now at UCLA) outdueled Morningside’s 6-10 Elden Campbell (now starting for Clemson).

Morningside qualified for the rematch by defeating host Paso Robles, 70-53, Friday night. Guard Kenny Jones led four Monarchs in double figures with 15 points.

It was fun while it lasted.

Redondo’s basketball team might have had visions of an upset after moving out to a 19-17 first-quarter lead against favored St. Paul, but the Sea Hawks failed to keep pace the rest of the way as the visiting Swordsmen cruised to a 101-70 victory in the second round of the 4-A playoffs.

St. Paul’s height advantage--6-9 John Overbeck (26 points, 16 rebounds) and 6-8 Greg Willig (21 points, eight boards) anchor the front line--and fast break proved too much for Redondo, which ended the season with an 18-9 record.

Senior forward Mike Houck went out in style for the Sea Hawks, scoring a game-high 28 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

Looking ahead:

--If Rolling Hills and Morningside both win Wednesday, it will set up an all-South Bay match-up between the Bay League and Ocean League champions in the semifinals of the Southern Section 3-A playoffs Friday night.