Pacific Shores Tournament : Morningside Steadies, Overcomes Tenacious St. Bernard by 71-61

Top-seeded Morningside High, unable to shake a determined St. Bernard team for three quarters, came through when it had to Wednesday.

The Monarchs used defensive pressure and balanced scoring to pull away in the fourth quarter for a 71-61 victory in the quarterfinals of the Pacific Shores Basketball Tournament at Mira Costa High.

“We played well down the stretch,” said co-Coach Ron Randle, whose team improved to 2-0 and will face Rolling Hills in the semifinals at 6 tonight at Redondo High.

“The bottom line is that it’s the second game of the season and we’re not in prime shape yet.”

After posting an easy 82-60 win over El Segundo in its opener Monday night, Morningside had its hands full Wednesday.

St. Bernard (1-1) led by 14-12 after the first quarter and trailed by two at halftime and after the third quarter.

That’s when Morningside asserted itself.

The Monarchs opened the fourth quarter with nine unanswered points to take a 58-47 lead, and they led by at least five the rest of the way.

Forward Arthur Savage opened the quarter with a three-point play, freshman Stacis Boseman followed with two free throws, and forward Tyrone Paul came up with two straight steals that led to layups.

Guard Martel Bland later came up with back-to-back steals that led to two baskets, putting Morningside ahead, 63-52, midway through the fourth quarter.

Randle and co-Coach Carl Franklin credited a smaller lineup, substituting Bland for 6-foot-7 center Jeff Crowe, for helping the Monarchs turn the game around.

“The smaller lineup made us so much quicker,” Franklin said.

Bland led five Monarchs in double figures with 15 points. Savage added 14, followed by Crowe with 14, point guard Donald Sanders with 12 and Paul with 10.

St. Bernard, which did a good job working the ball inside for baskets, got 14 points each from center Wyking Jones and forwards Rick Famuyima and Martin Smith. But the 6-6 Jones, the Vikings’ top player, was shut out in the fourth quarter.