SOUTHERN SECTION CHAMPIONSHIPS : Championship Slips Through Monarchs’ Grasp : Basketball: Morningside fails to score in final 2:23, falls to Servite in III-A title game.

Carl Franklin, coach of the Morningside High boys’ basketball team, thinks of himself in conservative terms.

“I’m a very basic guy,” he said Saturday, after Servite of Anaheim dealt the Monarchs a 49-46 loss in the Southern Section Division III-A title game at the Sports Arena. “When the game gets tight, I think you have to keep it simple.”

Morningside didn’t do much to live up to Franklin’s image.

With the game on the line, the Monarchs were guilty of violating the most basic of rules--they drew a technical foul for having six players on the court--and throwing away a chance for victory with a no-look pass that failed to find its mark.

The last-minute blunders negated an otherwise solid effort by Morningside, which led most of the game and had taken a 46-43 lead with 2:23 left on a layup by forward Arthur Savage. The Monarchs never scored again.

Servite forward Adam Anderson closed out the contest by making six consecutive free throws, including four in the last 15 seconds. The Friars made 12 of 21 free throws in the fourth quarter, compared to seven of nine for Morningside.

“We could not pull away from them,” Morningside forward Keenan Jourdan said. “With all the fouls that the refs were calling, we couldn’t do anything. You can’t do anything against that.”

Servite Coach Richard Smith was counting his blessings afterward. The Friars made only 14 of 45 field goals (31%) and were scoreless for the first 5:20 of the second quarter. Yet, they never trailed by more than six points, largely because Morningside also shot horrendously (17 of 54, 31%).

“Overall it was kind of an ugly Servite win, which we’ll take at this point in the season,” Smith said. “The thing that has been characteristic of us in the playoffs is that we’ve shot the ball extremely well. But that’s just the kind of kids we have. They’re determined to win no matter what. We shot poorly, but so did they.”

Smith said his team’s defense--the Friars played a 2-3 zone that kept Morningside from controlling play inside--and rebounding were the difference. Servite outrebounded the Monarchs, 48-37, despite a game-high 17 rebounds by the 6-foot-6 Savage.

“For being outmatched athletically, I think we did a heck of a job,” Smith said. “The defense kept us close and we scored enough points to get by.”

Said Franklin: “If you look at Servite, I don’t think it’s an accident that most of their games end up in the 40s and 50s. They are a very sound ballclub defensively.”

Overshadowed in Morningside’s loss was a superb effort by sophomore guard Stais Boseman, who scored a game-high 23 points on nine of 14 shooting and sparked an aggressive, full-court defense with seven steals.

It was the Monarchs’ inability to get the ball to Boseman in the final seconds that may have cost them the game.

Trailing, 47-46, after two free throws by Anderson with 14.9 seconds left, Morningside intended to set up a play for Boseman. Servite, though, did a good job of denying him the ball.

“They had two (previous) close games in the playoffs and they had gone to Boseman both times late in the game,” Smith said. “Our idea was not to let him touch the ball.”

Boseman ended up touching the ball, but it wasn’t what Morningside had in mind. Guard Shawn Forbin dribbled to the right of the key and threw a no-look pass over his left shoulder in the direction of forward Keenan Jourdan, who was standing at the free-throw line. The ball glanced off Jourdan’s left hand and hit Boseman in the leg before going out of bounds with 4.8 seconds left.

“I didn’t know who (Forbin) was throwing the ball to,” Boseman said. “I thought he was going to go all the way with it. I was going to the basket. It was a no-look pass, but I should have controlled it.”

Morningside compounded the mistake when, after a timeout, sophomore guard Dwight Curry entered the game without informing the player whose place he was taking in the lineup. Play was called after the officials noticed there were six Monarchs on the court.

“I thought it was a bogus call, but it turned out to be a true call,” said Franklin, who at first argued with officials. “We can’t blame anybody for that.”

Morningside got off easy when Servite guard Eddie Rubio missed two technical foul shots. But, given the ball at halfcourt, the Friars got the inbounds pass to Anderson, who was fouled and made two one-and-one free throws to make it 49-46 with 3.6 seconds left.

It was the first time Morningside had lost in a Southern Section final after winning division titles in 1955, ’74 and ’85.

Saturday’s loss means the Monarchs (27-4) need to be granted an at-large berth in order to participate in the State Division III regional tournament next week. Defending State champion Servite (23-6) assured itself of a first-round home game by winning the section title.

“I still think we have a lot of fight in us,” Franklin said. “If we get an invitation to the state tournament, perhaps there will be a rematch (with Servite), and so far nobody’s beaten us twice this year.”

Boseman, however, isn’t counting on playing another game, although the Monarchs, as the state’s top-ranked Division III team, would seem to have a good chance of gaining an at-large berth. (Only division champions are assured spots in the regionals.)

“I’m not too sure we’re going,” he said. “If we had won, I’d feel a little happier. I just hope we get there.”

If Morningside is granted an invitation, there isn’t much doubt who Boseman would like to face.

“I think if we played (Servite) again, it would be a different game,” he said.