Morningside, Palos Verdes Prepare for Round 2

On the last day of 1990, Morningside and Palos Verdes high schools played a girls’ basketball game for the ages.

And it could be a preview of things to come in 1991.

The South Bay powers met in the championship game of the L.A. Invitational tournament Monday, with Palos Verdes rallying for a 55-52 overtime victory at Woodbury University in Burbank.

“Some girls’ games, you can barely sit there and watch them,” Palos Verdes Coach Wendell Yoshida said. “But this was a great high school game. It was everything it was supposed to be.”

It was the first loss for Morningside (13-1), the defending State Division I champion, and snapped a 36-game winning streak dating back to last season.

“It was one of those games where nobody deserved to lose,” Morningside first-year Coach Ron Randle said. “Unfortunately, we came out on the short end at the free-throw line.”

Palos Verdes (14-1) made five of six free throws to account for a 5-2 edge in the three-minute overtime. The Sea Kings trailed until midway through the fourth quarter, when they went to a full-court press that forced Morningside into several critical turnovers.

“We didn’t execute the press break as well as we should have,” Randle said. “We didn’t get the leadership that I expected at that point. We started taking three-point shots. That’s not how we got the lead. We didn’t work on getting the ball to our big people.”

Fortunately for the Lady Monarchs, they do not have to wait long for a chance to redeem themselves. In what might be the most heavily anticipated girls’ basketball game in South Bay history, Palos Verdes will play host to Morningside at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

On the line will be two impressive league winning streaks. If both teams win their league openers Friday, which is a near certainty, Morningside will bring an 89-game league winning streak and Palos Verdes a 48-game streak into the first of their two Ocean League showdowns. The schools have never played in the same league before this season.

“I think (Monday’s loss) will be real fresh on the girls’ minds,” Randle said. “For 3 1/2 quarters, we were looking good. We had a little breakdown, and you can’t have breakdowns against good teams. Hopefully we can go up there and take care of business.”

Yoshida is looking forward to another classic battle.

“If Monday was a preview of things to come, then it’s going to be pretty darn exciting,” he said.

Palos Verdes point guard Kristen Mulligan was named most valuable player of the L.A. Invitational, but it was forward-center Monique Morehouse who made the difference in the tournament’s championship game.

The 6-foot-3 junior played what Yoshida called “the game of her life,” finishing with 20 points and 20 rebounds. Morehouse scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, when Palos Verdes outscored Morningside, 16-11, and sank two free throws in overtime.

Freshman guard Mimi McKinney added 14 points for Palos Verdes, and Mulligan, in one of her lowest-scoring games, had 10. Although she didn’t score, junior forward Misty Folsom made a steal and took charge during a critical stretch of the fourth quarter.

Palos Verdes appeared in good shape to win in regulation, but Morningside scored with two seconds left in the fourth quarter on an in-bounds play under the basket to tie the score, 50-50.

“It was a breakdown on our part,” Yoshida said. “I could have had a heart attack.”

The overtime period wasn’t any easier on Yoshida, who called the game one of the most intense he’s been involved with in 11 years as Palos Verdes coach.

“After it was over, I told my assistant coach that I didn’t care if I coached another game this season,” he said. “It had that type of playoff intensity.”

Yoshida said Morningside is playing more full-court pressure defense than it did under former Coach Frank Scott, now an assistant at USC.

“It’s like playing with a piece of lint on you,” he said. “You can’t shake it off.”

However, it was Palos Verdes’ press that bothered Morningside in the fourth quarter. Yoshida believes the maneuver may have thrown off the Lady Monarchs, who aren’t used to being pressured in the backcourt.

“They say that people who press don’t like to be pressed,” Yoshida said.

Said Randle: “We had about five turnovers in a row in the fourth quarter. That really should not have happened, but it happened. It’s going to be a good learning experience for us.”

Kudos to Coach Jack Kordich and the San Pedro basketball team for finishing the nonleague season with the best record in the South Bay.

The Pirates improved to 14-2 Saturday by defeating Santa Monica, 62-58, in the championship game of the Palisades tournament at Pepperdine. Forward Jerry Wells led the way with 18 points and was named most valuable player.

Two former South Bay football standouts helped Colorado clinch the national championship Tuesday with a 10-9 victory over Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.

Greg Thomas, a junior safety from Rolling Hills, had two interceptions and Deon Figures, a sophomore cornerback from Serra, intercepted a last-minute desperation pass by Notre Dame quarterback Rick Mirer.

Figures also had six tackles and Thomas had five tackles and two assists.

Things didn’t work out as well for Eric Hamilton, a sophomore defensive back from Serra. Hamilton was sent home before the game when Colorado Coach Bill McCartney found out that he had been arrested for driving under the influence near school in late November.

Fred Sims, wide receiver and the fastest member of Carson’s L.A. City 4-A championship football team, has been invited to run in the football 50-yard dash at the Sunkist Invitational track meet Jan. 18 at the Sports Arena.

Others in the field include Lompoc’s highly recruited running back Napoleon Kaufman, the defending state 100- and 200-meter champion, Mater Dei running back Derek Sparks (formerly of Banning) and Dorsey running back Lamont Warren.