PREP WRAPUP : Rolling Hills Rally Falls Short in 3-AA Playoffs

The curtain fell on Rolling Hills High School’s basketball season Friday night, but not before the Titans staged one last exciting production.

Outmanned and outplayed for most of the game, Rolling Hills came back from a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit to throw a scare into visiting Western High of Anaheim, pulling within one point with 21 seconds to play.

In the end, though, a scare was all the Titans could muster as No. 4-seeded Western held on for a 79-76 victory to avenge a two-year-old loss and reach the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section 3-AA playoffs.

“We gave it our best shot,” Rolling Hills Coach Cliff Warren said.

That they did.

The Titans got the ball into the right player’s hands for their final shot, but a desperation three-pointer by Steve Clover from about 26 feet glanced off the rim. It wasn’t the way Warren had pictured the ending.

“I thought he would hit a three-pointer, get fouled and make a four-point play,” he said.

It was easy to expect a miracle after Clover’s previous basket.

Guarded closely by two players, the state’s three-point king drilled a trey from about 22 feet to draw Rolling Hills within 77-76 with 21 seconds left.

But then the Titans screwed up.

After calling a timeout with 19 seconds left, Rolling Hills failed to foul quickly and Western got the ball up court to unguarded Steve Siefkin, who hit a layup with 13 seconds left to build the lead back to three.

“It was a breakdown,” Warren said. “I wanted a foul right away, but we couldn’t get one.”

With a weapon like Clover, it’s difficult to ever call Rolling Hills out of a game. The 6-foot-4 senior, bound for Pepperdine, ended his prep career with 27 points on nine-of-22 shooting and seven three-pointers. He holds state records for most three-pointers in a career (288), season (140) and game (11).

“He’s dangerous,” Western Coach Greg Hoffman said.

It appeared doubtful that Clover would be able to get any shots off late in the game after picking up his fourth foul in the last second of the first half on a controversial call. But he managed to play the entire second half without another infraction.

Roger Hendrix, the Titans’ 6-6 junior center, led all scorers with 32 points, and junior guard Chad Heitzler added 11, including seven in the fourth quarter.

Western’s victory avenged a one-point loss to Rolling Hills in the second round of the 3-A playoffs two years ago. In that game, a Western player blew an uncontested layup at the buzzer.

The loss also prevented Rolling Hills from reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in five seasons under Warren.

Discussing the game Friday morning, Warren sensed his team would have its hands full.

“(Western) plays tenacious man-to-man defense and they pound the boards, all the things we don’t do,” he said.

Western’s full-court press forced Rolling Hills into numerous turnovers, and the Pioneers’ high-scoring trio of forward Robbie Shelton (27 points, 17 rebounds) and guards Tom Barraza (24 points, 10 assists) and Sam Sabarra (18 points) did a good job of attacking the basket.

Hoffman, Western’s coach, paid Warren a nice compliment after the game.

“I consider it a great honor to beat a team coached by Cliff Warren,” he said. “I consider him one of the greatest coaches in California.”

This marked the first season Rolling Hills failed to reach 20 wins under Warren, but 16-12 isn’t bad for a team that lacked athletic ability and depth.

Actually, it was one of Warren’s better coaching jobs.

His five-year record at Rolling Hills stands at 108-33 overall and 12-5 in the playoffs.

Poor depth and a lack of physical talent weren’t the only obstacles that Rolling Hills faced this season.

Although Warren tried to keep it a secret so his opponents wouldn’t know, Clover was bothered by bronchitis and had vaporizer treatments before nearly every game.

“He’s been on some kind of machine,” Warren said. “It’s better I don’t know what’s going on.”

The South Bay has five basketball teams remaining in the Southern Section playoffs and two in the L.A. City Section playoffs after Friday’s games.

Bishop Montgomery (16-7), which posted a 59-51 victory over Buena Park in the Southern Section 4-A Division, travels to meet second-seeded San Marcos of Santa Barbara (22-6) in the quarterfinals Tuesday night at Dos Pueblos High in Goleta.

In the 3-AA Division, top-seeded Morningside (24-3), a 101-56 winner over Azusa, faces the winner of Saturday night’s Atascadero-Lompoc game. The game was postponed from Friday because of a power outage at Atascadero.

In 2-A quarterfinals, El Segundo (14-13) faces No. 4-seeded Orange Lutheran (16-10) at West Torrance High, and Miraleste (14-11) meets No. 3-seeded St. Joseph of Santa Maria (17-7) at Rolling Hills High in games Tuesday night. Miraleste advanced with a 67-64 overtime win over Serra.

Chadwick (18-8), an 81-64 winner over Capistrano Valley Christian, plays host to top-seeded Mission Prep of San Luis Obispo (17-4) in a 1-A game.

The L.A. City 4-A playoffs resume Wednesday night with quarterfinal-round games. Pacific League champion Carson (19-8), a 53-52 winner over Palisades, plays a rematch with visiting Dorsey (19-6), which it defeated in conference play. Westchester (16-10), which edged Narbonne, 58-57, plays at No. 2-seeded Crenshaw (20-4), an old nemesis for the Comets.

A season-high 37 points from forward Tate Seefried helped El Segundo beat Crossroads, 81-67, in the second round of the 2-A playoffs.

Seefried, a 6-3 senior transfer who has been up and down this season, hit 11 of 15 shots from the floor, including four three-pointers, and made 11 of 14 free-throw attempts.

“He was unconscious,” El Segundo Coach Rick Sabosky said.

Center Kenny Talanoa added 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Wednesday’s collegiate signings were not limited to the area’s football standouts.

Six players from Mira Costa’s state Division I girls volleyball champion team signed letters of intent with major colleges and four others have been offered scholarships, including three seniors on the junior varsity team.

Setter Piper Hahn and middle blocker Heidi Eick, two of Mira Costa’s three All-Americans, signed with Stanford. The third, middle blocker Kristal Attwood, committed to Hawaii.

The Mustangs’ two other senior starters, outside hitters Rainy Chrisman and Erika Lawson, signed with Pepperdine. Back-row specialist Jennifer Streatfield chose Washington.