SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : SMALL SCHOOL BOYS : St. Margaret’s Loses Lead, Then Title Game

After his team’s 18-game winning streak had ended, St. Margaret’s High School guard Dann Campaigne tried to be the voice of reason.

“We’ve been in so many blowouts this year,” said Campaigne, who scored a game-high 25 points. “We’ve only had one or two games this season where we’ve been in a pressure-cooker like this. It’s tough to get used to.”

And the Tartans never quite adjusted.

Ribet Academy rallied from a seven-point deficit in the third quarter to beat St. Margaret’s, 68-60, in the Small Schools Division championship game at Saddleback College.

St. Margaret’s struggled to one-point victories over Avalon in the second round and Pilgrim in the quarterfinals, but the Tartans won the majority of their games this season by 10 or more points.

Fighting to keep a lead just wasn’t something the Tartans were used to doing, Campaigne said.

“We just didn’t click together well tonight,” he said. “I thought it was going to be one of our most comfortable games at first, but we just dropped off at the end.”

Ribet, which also was learning how to play in a close game, made five of 10 shots and seven of eight free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

Ribet led, 63-60, with 1 minute 10 seconds left, but two free throws by Eaon Tassistro and three by Jacque Moore stopped any hopes of a comeback. Moore finished with 23 points.

It was the 20th consecutive victory for the Fighting Frogs (25-2), who outscored their opponents by an average of 47 points in their first four playoff games, including a 106-14 victory over Garden Grove Claremont in the first round.

“We’re so used to playing in blowouts, so it was hard to get used to playing in a close one,” Ribet Coach Mike Miller said. “We won some close ones this season too. You have to learn to win both ways if you want to be great.”

The Frogs also learned how to stop Ryan Westendorf, St. Margaret’s 6-7 junior center.

They held him to five points in the second half and 19 for the game. He was averaging 25.6 points.

“We pushed him a couple steps further from the basket in the second half,” Miller said. “We kept him from getting the ball where he wanted it.”

St. Margaret’s Coach Rick Bauer saw it differently.

“They pushed Ryan out further,” he said, “but mainly it was a lack of our entry passes in to him.”

St. Margaret’s (21-5) appeared to have its first basketball title wrapped up midway through the third quarter. Campaigne scored 10 points as the Tartans built a 47-40 lead with 2:45 left in the quarter.

But then one of the shortest players on the court, Ribet’s 5-foot-6 Jamal Duncan, took over.

He scored seven of his 19 points during an 11-2 run to close the third quarter. The Frogs led, 51-49, at the start of the fourth quarter and never trailed the rest of the way.

Campaigne scored 13 points, including three three-pointers, and Westendorf added 14 points in the first half. The Tartans led, 34-31, at halftime.

“Ribet could see that Campaigne had the hot hand in the first half and the third quarter so they came out and played good defense on him in the fourth quarter,” Bauer said.

Campaigne agreed. He made only one basket and missed three three-pointers in the fourth quarter.