Boys’ Division III : Trabuco Hills Stops Morningside, 60-57

Trabuco Hills High School may have needed a pair of three-pointers to get back into its Division III Southern Regional championship game against Morningside, but it was 6-foot 10-inch center Rick Swanwick’s inside play that carried the Mustangs to a 60-57 victory Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Swanwick, who finished with a game-high 27 points, took over for the Mustangs after Chad Poulos and Luis Arenado made consecutive three-pointers to ignite a fourth-quarter rally.

Morningside led, 51-41, with 5:40 left before the Mustangs started to connect from the outside. Trabuco Hills, which won the Southern Section 3-A division title last week, outscored the Monarchs, 19-6, from that point, with Swanwick scoring 11 of those points.

“Those three-pointers really got us back into the game,” Trabuco Hills Coach Rainer Wulf said. “That gave us the momentum we needed because we were tentative after missing our first few outside shots.”

Morningside, which lost in the Southern Section 3-A semifinals to Corona del Mar, rallied from an 18-6 first-quarter deficit to take a 29-28 halftime lead.

Morningside controlled play at the start of the second half, as guards Ken Jones and Don Sanders penetrated through the Mustang defense, setting up easy baskets. But the Monarchs were not able to maintain their lead.

“We are not a stall team,” Morningside Co-Coach Ron Randle said. “We basically like a fast tempo, and that is the key to our team.

“We may have started to relax a little once we got the lead, but they did a good job of moving the ball around to set up their three-pointers.”

Trabuco Hills (25-6) took the lead, 56-55, with 1:44 left in the fourth quarter, on two free throws by Swanwick, who made seven in the final eight minutes.

The Mustangs held a 60-57 lead with 20 seconds remaining. Morningside had two chances to tie, but consecutive three-point attempts by Jonathan Madison were off the mark.

Chris Vance led the Monarchs (23-6) with 13 points. Jeff Crowe added 12.