Jordan Wins I-AA Title at the Line

Rodney Harris scored 15 points--including eight in the fourth quarter--and Darryl Bryant made two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to give Long Beach Jordan a 69-67 victory over Long Beach Millikan in the Southern Section Division I-AA championship basketball game before a crowd of 7,669 at the Sports Arena Saturday night.

For Jordan, which improved to 23-7 and earned its first Southern Section title, the victory completed a season sweep over its Moore League rival and assured a berth in next week’s Southern Regional State tournament. Jordan defeated the Rams twice during the regular season.

For three quarters, Millikan stayed close, the teams exchanging the lead 11 times.

But Jordan, which won the Moore League title and was top seeded in the division, pulled away early in the fourth quarter and held off a furious rally with six free throws.

“It didn’t surprise me because 10 games this year we won the game on the free-throw line,” Jordan Coach Ron Massey said. “Our kids love this kind of situation.”

In the first half, Jordan’s man-to-man defense gave Millikan problems, and the Panthers took an 18-16 lead at the end of the first quarter, with Deandrae Smith and Bryant scoring seven points apiece.

Pat Thacker, a 6-foot-5 forward, got Millikan going in the second quarter with six points and an assist for a 26-24 lead with 4:03 remaining. Jordan rallied behind seven points by Harris to take a 37-34 halftime lead.

Jordan led, 54-50, at the end of the third quarter, with Bryant scoring eight points.

Millikan’s 6-foot-9 center Nate Covill went to the bench with his fourth foul early in the quarter, and Jordan opened a 13-point lead before Thacker, who finished with 19 points, and Jamie Davis, who scored 16, led the Rams back.

Millikan (24-5), which won the 5-AA Division title in 1989, can qualify for the Southern Regional State tournament as an at-large entry. The field will be announced today.