Hawthorne’s Second Half Lead Fades in 78-60 Loss

For several minutes of the second half of Thursday’s second-round game in the Carson summer boys basketball tournament, Hawthorne High displayed its best and worst sides in a 78-60 loss to Morningside.

The Cougars, 7-15 last year, opened the half with a 12-2 run that quickly turned a 38-31 halftime deficit into a 43-40 advantage.

Shortly thereafter the Monarchs regained control with a 14-3 run and cruised to the victory.

Morningside faces Cleveland today at 5:40 p.m. in third-round action, while Hawthorne, which surprised Cleveland, 76-68, in first-round action, takes on Vista at 1:40.

In other games today, Palos Verdes plays Lynwood at 11 a.m., Rolling Hills takes on Ganesha at 4:20 p.m. and host Carson High faces Muir at 7.

Early consolation and championship round games will be played Saturday afternoon, and the championship final is slated for 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

“During that good run we were getting up and down the floor and not turning the ball over,” said Hawthorne Coach Richard Wells.

“Then we got tired and some of the kids are not really accustomed to our system yet. That’s when Morningside took over.”

Said Monarchs co-coach Ron Randle: “They opened the second half better than we did. We weren’t challenging their shots or stopping their penetration.”

Hawthorne will be senior-oriented in 1989-90, but the nucleus of the squad will be inexperienced in varsity play.

Seniors Reggie Bell and guard Tremayne Gauthier played on last season’s Ocean League champion junior varsity team along with Shon Wiley, Jabbar Mouton and Waymon Powell.

Thursday, Bell, a 6-4 forward, led all Cougar scorers with 14 points, Wiley had 10 and Powell chipped in with nine. Mouton played only the second half and scored eight points.

“We’ll rely on speed and quickness and try to run the break,” Wells said. “We have to because we don’t have any size. But even though we don’t have any big guys, we do have guys who can get up and get the ball.”

Morningside, which had five players in double figures, had great success working the ball inside to 6-7 senior center Jeff Crowe, who led all scorers with 18 points.

Tyrone Neely and Dan Taylor had 11 points each, and Don Sanders and freshman guard Stasi Roseman chipped in with 10 points apiece.

The Monarchs put the game away with a 10-0 run with five minutes remaining.

“We just started taking advantage of our strengths,” Randle said. “We said we were going to go inside until they stopped us, and they never did.”