PREP ROUNDUP : Boseman’s Late Heroics Help Rescue Morningside

Stais Boseman didn’t waste much time reminding the crowd in the Redondo High gym that basketball is still his best sport.

Boseman came off the bench Wednesday night to score 14 of his 19 points in the second half, and sparked Morningside High to a 68-67 comeback victory over Culver City in the quarterfinals of the Pacific Shores tournament.

Boseman, a 6-3 sophomore guard, needed only two games to regain his shooting touch after quarterbacking Morningside’s football team to an Ocean League championship and the semifinals of the Southern Section Division VIII playoffs.

“The only thing (Boseman) needs to catch up on is his basketball conditioning,” Morningside Coach Carl Franklin said. “His shot is already there.”

Against Culver City, Boseman proved that his jet-quick first step is a force to be reckoned with. He consistently blew past defenders for easy layups.

And when Morningside--trailing 67-61 with 1:01 left in the game--needed an outside shot, Boseman made a three-point basket behind a screen from Sean Harris to bring the Monarchs within three.

On the next play, Morningside’s Arthur Savage stole the inbounds pass and passed to sophomore guard Dwight Curry, whose soft jump shot cut the deficit to a point with 39 seconds left.

With 18 seconds left, Boseman fouled Culver City’s Vaughn Davis in the backcourt. When Davis missed his first free throw, Curry grabbed the long rebound.

Rushing downcourt, the Monarchs missed three consecutive shots. But Curry, who scored 16 points, finally put in a tip-in to win the game as time expired.

Morningside (4-0) will meet St. Bernard in the semifinals tonight at 6 at Mira Costa.

“This was a good test for us,” Franklin said. “We’ll try to build on it. We made a nice comeback when we were down by six. We’re still searching for some things, though.”

One thing Morningside could have used more of Wednesday night was post defense. With several Monarch players in foul trouble, Culver City’s Shani Kennedy--a 6-7 forward--dominated underneath.

Kennedy scored on a mixture of short jump shots, banks and layups. He led all scorers with 23 points. Culver City point guard Brandon Patton added 15.

Morningside also got eight rebounds from Savage, a 6-6 forward who is the Monarchs’ only returning starter. Monarch guard Shawn Forbin added six points and four assists.

In other tournament quarterfinals:

St. Bernard 83, Redondo 65--An aggressive pressing defense nearly backfired on the visiting Vikings, but they rallied for 35 points in the third quarter for the victory.

Redondo guards Jason Correa and Ted Silva found enough holes in St. Bernard’s full-court press to help the Sea Hawks built a 33-23 lead at the half.

“It seemed like our defense was Redondo’s best offense,” St. Bernard Coach Jim McClune said. “At halftime, we were down by 10 points and we knew we would lose if we didn’t play harder. It was a question of intensity.”

St. Bernard (3-1) put together two scoring streaks in the third quarter--Chris Keldorf touched off a nine-point run with a three-point basket early in the quarter, then Ronald Gardette tied the score, 39-39, with another three-point shot to start a 10-point spurt.

The Vikings’ big men--Wyking Jones and Rick Famuyiwa--reaped the benefit of Redondo’s sloppy play against the press in the second half. Both Jones and Famuyiwa scored 22 points. Keldorf finished with 11 points and Gardette added nine.

Redondo (2-1) was led by forward David Cottey with 15 points and Derek Gonzalez and Josh Miller with 10 apiece.

Carson 66, San Pedro 52--Junior forward Rudy Washington led a balanced attack for the Colts with 19 points at Mira Costa.

Center Justin Evans added 17 points and forward William Thomas scored 15 for Carson (3-1), which will meet Lakewood in the semifinals at 7:30 tonight at Mira Costa. It was the first loss in six games for San Pedro.

Lakewood 88, Mira Costa 73--Despite a game-high 28 points from 6-8 center Chris Davis, the Mustangs lost at home.

Mira Costa (1-2) trailed by only a point at halftime, 42-41, but was outscored, 22-14, in the third quarter as Lakewood pulled away.