VALENCIA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Servite Does Inside Job on Valencia

Servite High School used a powerful inside game to defeat Valencia, 45-36, Friday in the championship game of the 27th Valencia basketball tournament.

Valencia tried to counter Servite’s inside game with a two-guard outside combination of Jason Bae and Richard Tibbie.

But Steve Marusich, a 6-foot-6, 195-pound post player, and Blaine Patriquin, a 6-4 230-pound power forward, combined for 27 points to lead the Friars.

“We got it inside to Marusich and Patriquin in the second and they went to work,” said first-year Servite Coach Richard Smith. “That was that.”

Said Valencia Coach Ray Rodriguez: “They just banged us inside.”

Valencia (3-2) stayed with Servite in the first half on the outside shooting of Bae. Only after Servite muscled its way out of a 18-18 halftime tie with a 6-0 run at the start of the second half did Valencia’s size disadvantage begin to become a glaring weakness.

Servite (4-1) built an 11-point lead at 37-26, on free throw by Marc Lamb with 6:09 remaining, but Valencia rallied with outside shooting. Tibbie, who accounted for 10 of the Tigers’ 18 second-half points, led the Tigers in scoring with 19. Bae finished with 12, on four three-pointers.

The Tigers got to within six points twice in the last 4:57 but could find no match for the inside game of Servite.

Valencia trailed 37-31, after a three-point basket by Bae and two free throws by Tibbie after the Servite bench received a technical. Valencia trailed, 39-33, after a basket by Tibbie with 2:53 remaining.

But the Friars went back inside and led by 12 with 21 seconds remaining.

“We tried to limit them to one shot and pound the ball inside,” Smith said.

In other Valencia tournament games:

El Modena 65, Katella 55--Katella trailed by only four with 2:51 remaining, but El Modena outscored Katella, 8-2, down the stretch in the third-place game. El Modena senior Jeff Leedom accounted for half his team’s 18 points in the second quarter and scored 10 of the 17 points in the third quarter. He finished with 28, to lead all scorers.

Troy 68, La Habra 53--Troy jumped to an early advantage and won the consolation championship. Richard Wesley scored 16 points, Mike Abbot had 15 and Chris Inman 14 for Troy. La Habra was led by Clegg James (18) and Mark Behring (16).