LAGUNA BEACH BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Killum Sparks Lynwood in Victory

Lynwood High School’s Ernest Killum put his personal punctuation marks on both ends of his team’s semifinal game against Brea-Olinda in the Laguna Beach tournament Friday night, and he did it with his usual flair--way above the rim.

Killum accented the opening minute of the game with a swat. He batted away the first shot attempted by Brea-Olinda’s Keith Walker.

Then with 2:24 left, Killum jammed home a two-handed slam off an alley-oop pass from point guard Mike Singleton to snap a 53-53 tie. Lynwood (5-0) went on to a 62-56 victory and will meet Compton at 7:30 tonight in the championship game at Laguna Beach High.

Friday night’s first half showcased the matchup of Lynwood’s Killum, who finished with 17 points, and Brea-Olinda’s Walker. After watching his first shot get blocked, Walker returned the challenge by swatting away a couple of Killum’s shots.

Then Walker and Killum put on a two-man slam duel. Walker’s 360-degree reverse dunk off a steal might have been the best, but Killum’s first-half jams featured another alley-oop from Singleton and a soaring tomahawk dunk over the head of Brea’s Rodney Stewart.

Walker led all scorers with 27 points, including three three-pointers, but he wasn’t enough to lift Brea (3-1). Brea’s biggest points may have come on Jeff Roeser’s only basket, a soft jump shot that tied the score with 2:55 left.

Brea forged a comeback after Killum left the game with 11 points and four fouls with 6:38 left in the third quarter. When Killum went out, Lynwood had a comfortable 40-30 lead.

But Brea cut into that lead on a pair of inside baskets from center Fritz Wickman (eight points) and a key three-pointer by Walker.

In the other semifinal game:

Compton 74, Laguna Beach 57--Laguna Beach cut Compton’s lead to 46-42 at the start of the fourth quarter, but forward Dain Blanton scored 19 points and the Artists (5-1) fell apart in the final period.

Compton (5-0) was led by sharpshooting guard Curtis Thomas, who had four three-pointers and led all scorers with 25 points. Compton also got solid inside play from center Darnell Patterson (15 points) and forward James Williams (14 points).

In the fifth-place semifinal game:

Corona del Mar 75, St. John Bosco 60--Doug Hesse scored 20 points and Mark Flint and John Paulsen each had 18 for Corona del Mar. Flint also had 11 rebounds. Jon Upham had 14 for Corona del Mar.