Osterloh Gave Harvard Early Clout for a Rout

A word to the wise: Don’t underestimate Rick Osterloh.

Ask those on the Blair High basketball team who were baptized by fire Friday. Rapid fire.

Osterloh, a Harvard senior, scored 30 points and made 10 of 14 shots from the field to lead the host Saracens in a 109-78 romp over Blair in a Southern Section 3-A Division playoff game. What’s more, Osterloh worked quickly--Harvard Coach Greg Hilliard pulled his sharpshooting guard with three minutes to play in the third quarter. Hilliard also pulled Matt Clark, who finished with 25 points.

It took but a tick of the clock to trip the offensive avalanche. Anticipating a touch pass from Clark on the opening tip, Osterloh bolted to the hoop and scored an uncontested layup. Harvard’s defense clung to Blair like a sweat-soaked jersey, using a smothering press to steal the ball on each of the Vikings’ first four possessions.

“They were really surprised,” Hilliard said of Blair. “You could tell by the look in the guards’ eyes in how effective the trapping was. You could actually detect a little bit of fear.”

Fear might have been a factor but frustration was more readily apparent. The Saracens’ net kept snapping, as did Blair’s morale. Harvard, which entered the playoffs as the San Fernando Valley League champion and the top-seeded team in the 3-A, held a 33-17 lead at the end of the first period and a 61-37 advantage at intermission.

“After we stole the ball a few times, you could hear them bickering at each other,” Osterloh said. “That’s great. Our whole point is to try and make the opponents timid, and we really did that in the first quarter.

“I thought before the game that I was going to do everything I could to keep us from losing. By the end of the first quarter, everyone was so high and confident that there was no way we could lose.”

Osterloh and Clark also were called for charging in the first quarter. The violent collisions sent a message.

“They let them know that they could stand there and get knocked down each time,” Hilliard said. “I don’t mind them doing that to establish that they intend to be aggressive.”

And, as confidence-builders go, four dunks didn’t hurt. Osterloh, who had not slammed since the preseason, had a career-high two. The jams whipped the crowd into a frenzy.

Osterloh, meanwhile, was cool and focused. His coach noticed as much from the outset.

“We came out very purposeful and prepared,” Hilliard said. “He gets very quiet and very intense. That’s something I really look for. When he sits down before the pregame introductions and he’s just staring straight ahead, I know he’s ready to go.”

Fueling the fires of intensity was the fact that Harvard had not played a postseason game in three years, making this the inaugural playoff appearance for each team member. Four of the Saracens’ five starters--Osterloh, Clark, Mike Wolf, and Lloyd Rogers--have played together since seventh grade.

Said Osterloh: “It was like a dream of all of ours.”