Scott Is Ejected, But Kearny Still Romps

Kearny advanced to the San Diego Section Division III final by blowing out St. Augustine, 79-57, Tuesday at Mira Mesa High. But Komet Coach Bill Peterson didn’t feel like celebrating.

The game was 32 minutes long. Peterson might have spent 30 minutes yelling at the referees over their officiating. He knew he wasn’t going to enjoy this one from the beginning. Two of his regulars--Demetrius Brown and Keith Robinson--weren’t available to play, and he used two freshman with a combined five games of varsity experience to replace them.

He saw his best player, senior forward Darnay Scott, get ejected with a double-technical foul in the fourth quarter. Now he has to file an appeal through the school principal to make Scott eligible for Friday’s final at Golden Hall.

Scott was ejected with 5:04 remaining after he was involved in a brief shoving match then threatened Saint player Eric Ott and referee Terry McIntyre. Peterson protested the call as he had done to several others, but chose not to comment on the technicals or the appeal afterward.

“Those two guys are the two guys I requested to do the ballgame, and they did a terrible job,” Peterson said. “It seemed to me the fouls on Saints were legitimate but the fouls on Kearny were ticky-tack.”

Then with 53 seconds left, after play was stopped because of a third confrontation between players, Peterson and St. Augustine Coach Jeff Armstrong got into a shouting match.

Kearny (23-5) had to put three starters on the bench in the first half because of fouls. But that didn’t seem to help the Saints, who turned the ball over nine times. St. Augustine spent most of the second half casting shots from the three-point line.

The shots were open, but most of them drew iron and resulted in Kearny fast breaks and the Komets turned a 10-point halftime lead into a 20-point bulge by the opening of the fourth quarter.

The only time the Saints threatened to come back in the second half came after Scott’s ejection. Matt Bonin made three of four free throws on the technicals and started St. Augustine on a 10-0 run that cut the lead to nine at 63-54.

But Kearny, led by Mike Oviedo’s 22 points, pulled away by sinking 12 of 17 free throws down the stretch.