Southern Section Basketball Playoffs : 2-AA : Whittier Christian Keeps Its Composure in Victory

Whittier Christian High School remained cool during a few heated moments Friday and relied on the hot shooting of Scott Ferguson to beat El Segundo, 71-57, and advance to the Southern Section 2-AA final.

Whittier Christian will play Banning for the championship.

Ferguson, who was double-teamed and pushed around inside, scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Heralds.

“I was expecting them to double-team me to get me frustrated,” said Ferguson, a 6-foot-7 center. “Coach told me just to keep cool.

“I thought they would be glued to me. I didn’t expect to score a lot. I thought the perimeter shooters would have the big nights.”

But the Heralds’ transition game was working, meaning the ball found its way inside to Ferguson.

It also meant a physical game that resulted in El Segundo being awarded three technicals and losing one player, Shawn Foster, who was ejected after he was called for one of the technicals.

“I was expecting that,” Whittier Christian Coach Bob Brown said. “I knew they would be physical on the boards. But I was surprised at how physical it got in some of the other areas.”

El Segundo Coach Rick Sabosky received two technicals, the second for walking on the court to request a timeout after two players collided on the way to the basket and remained on the floor. No one was injured on the play.

But by that point in the third quarter, Whittier Christian had built a 30-point lead thanks, in part, to forward Paul McKinley, who sank five of five free throws in the third quarter on the way to 19 points.

But El Segundo went on a 17-4 run to close out the quarter and pull within 57-38.

“Give them credit,” Brown said. “They started taking advantage when we slowed down. They made a run at us. But ultimately it didn’t make a difference.”

The Eagles threatened early in the first quarter, opening a 7-2 lead, but the Heralds picked up the tempo and went on a 24-1 run throughout the rest of the quarter.

The Heralds’ dominance continued into the second quarter and was on a 34-5 run before El Segundo managed seven of the final nine points to make the score 38-19 at halftime.

“We got the fast break going. We got the ball pushed up the floor and scored well out of that,” Brown said.