Prep Wrapup / Rob Fernas : First Rolling Hills, Then Morningside Falls Afoul of a ‘Team of Destiny’

Even before he checked the scorebook, Morningside Co-Coach Ron Randle knew where his team had lost Friday night’s Southern Section 3-A semifinal playoff basketball game--at the free-throw line.

“I’m sure they shot 40 free throws,” he said of underdog Corona del Mar. “It was unbelievable.”

As it turned out, Randle’s estimate was conservative.

Corona del Mar made 31 of 46 foul shots, including three by reserve guard Weston Johnson in the final 22 seconds of overtime, to lift the Sea Kings to a dramatic 57-56 win at Redondo High.

Morningside attempted less than half as many free throws, making 15 of 22 tries.

“It’s bad enough you have to play against five,” Randle said. “But when you have to play seven, that’s a little rough.”

While Randle admitted that many of the fouls were justified, including the last two that sent Johnson to the line, he questioned other calls.

One of the most questionable occured with nine seconds left in regulation when Morningside forward James Westbrook appeared to cleanly block a shot by Warren Johnson, Weston’s brother, who hit one of two free throws to send the game into overtime. Westbrook reacted to his fifth foul by hopping across the court in disbelief.

“I thought the referees were playing to the crowd rather than to what was going on in the game,” said Randle, referring to a large group of Corona del Mar fans who made the trek from Orange County.

In the end, though, Morningside was its own worst enemy.

The Monarchs committed two ill-advised fouls in the last 22 seconds that wiped out a three-point play by Morningside guard Ken Jones, who was fouled on a layup and added the free throw to give his team a 56-54 lead with 24 seconds left in overtime.

On the inbounds pass, Morningside guard Don Sanders reached in and fouled Weston Johnson.

“The (foul) on Don Sanders was a painful one, to say the least,” Randle said. “We should have expected them to call something like that.”

You knew things were going Corona del Mar’s way when Weston Johnson banked in the first one-and-one foul shot. He turned and smiled to the Sea King bench before sinking the second and tying the game, 56-56, with 22 seconds left.

Morningside blew a chance to regain the lead when Sanders missed the front end of a one-and-one with eight seconds remaining. Corona del Mar rebounded the miss and was trying to get the ball across the half-court line when Jones fouled Weston Johnson.

The Corona del Mar guard hit the first one-and-one with three seconds left and missed the second. Morningside’s Eddie Scott managed to hit the front of the rim with a half-court shot at the buzzer, barely missing what would have been a miracle finish. The Monarchs dejectedly walked off the court as Corona del Mar fans mobbed their heroes.

Randle, although displeased with the officiating, gave Corona del Mar its due.

“They did the job on the court and we didn’t,” he said. “That was the bottom line.”

Morningside is more apt to draw fouls than the average basketball team because of its aggressive, full-court pressure defense. But Rolling Hills Coach Cliff Warren, whose team lost to Corona del Mar in the quarterfinals Wednesday, said he was surprised by the disparity in free throws in Friday night’s game.

“It’s kind of hard to believe because Corona del Mar fouls all the time,” he said. “They push and are tough inside. I’ve never really seen Morningside play, but they must foul an awful lot.”

In Wednesday’s game, Corona del Mar made 23 of 31 free throws while Rolling Hills converted 14 of 23. Warren said it was one of the few times this season that the Titans attempted fewer foul shots than their opponent.

“We hardly ever have any foul trouble,” he said. “But they deserved to beat us. They outplayed us. The officials kind of let things go, but I think they should let things go in the playoffs.

“Sometimes in the playoffs you get teams of destiny. You get these upstart teams that don’t deserve to be there, but they end up winning. Kennedy was that way last year. Life just kind of goes that way.”

Kennedy of La Palma upset Rolling Hills in triple overtime in last year’s 3-A semifinals on its way to the title.

Warren, still dejected over his top-seeded team’s loss, didn’t attend the Morningside-Corona del Mar game.

“I couldn’t bear it,” he said. “I went to the movies.”

The Morningside-Corona del Mar game was originally scheduled to be played at Inglewood High, but was moved because of a drive-by shooting that occured Thursday morning near the Inglewood campus.

A student, Joseph Thomas Hardges, 17, was walking to nearby Hillcrest High, a continuation school, when he was hit by a shotgun blast fired from a passing van. He is in stable condition.

Dean Crowley, Southern Section administrator, said his office consulted with Morningside Principal Jerrie Martin before a decision was made to move the game.

“(Martin) voiced concern over the well-being of her students,” Crowley said. “She didn’t balk at the idea of moving the game.”

The game was rescheduled for Hawthorne High, but those arrangements fell through when the school board refused to allow the use of Hawthorne’s gym.

It was finally settled Friday morning that Redondo would be the site, but Randle wasn’t happy about having the game moved from the city of Inglewood.

“The CIF changed the game,” he said. “They didn’t feel it would be safe to play in Inglewood. I think that’s a disgrace. The shooting didn’t occur at Inglewood High School. There’s never been a shooting at Inglewood.”

Friday’s loss marked the second straight year Morningside was eliminated from the playoffs by a team nicknamed Sea Kings. Last season, the Palos Verdes Sea Kings beat the Monarchs in the first round.

The Corona del Mar Sea Kings will face Trabuco Hills in the 3-A title game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Carson gave top-seeded Manual Arts a scare before falling, 50-44, Friday night in the L.A. City 4-A semifinals at the Sports Arena. The Colts pulled within three, 34-31, by outscoring Manual Arts 16-6 in the third quarter, but the Toilers held on down the stretch.

Center Vince Washington led Carson with 12 points and guard Ray Bennett added 10. Manual Arts will play defending champion Crenshaw in a rematch of last year’s 4-A final at 9:15 p.m. Friday at the Sports Arena.

At Sonona High in La Habra, Whittier Christian went on a 24-1 run in the first quarter en route to a 71-57 win over El Segundo in the Southern Section 2-AA semifinals. The run gave the Heralds a 26-8 margin at the end of the first period.

Whittier Christian did a good job of defending El Segundo’s top player, forward Shawn Foster, who scored 14 points before being ejected for punching a Whittier Christian player with 4:21 left to play.

Top-seeded Palos Verdes and surprising Hawthorne will both play at home Tuesday in the semifinals of the Southern Section 4-A soccer playoffs. Both games start at 3 p.m.

Palos Verdes (31-0), which advanced with a 3-2 win Friday over Mater Dei, faces Newbury Park (20-3-1) while Hawthorne (16-9-2), coming off a 2-0 upset over second-seeded Simi Valley, meets Edison (13-5-3).

Palos Verdes and Hawthorne finished 1-2 in the Bay League.