Morningside Collapses in Stunning Defeat to Berkeley

It had all the ingredients of a typical Morningside High girls’ basketball game.

There was one team, flying up and down the court, forcing turnovers and crashing the backboards on its way to a dominating performance.

Only this time, it was Morningside being dominated.

Berkeley ended the Lady Monarchs’ dream of a third consecutive State Division I title Saturday night with a thoroughly convincing 76-50 victory at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

“We were looking to play the perfect game going into it,” Morningside Coach Ron Randle said, “but we probably had our worst game of the season.”

The loss stunned the Morningside players, many of whom walked off the court distraught and in tears. Senior point guard Princess Murray, who was held scoreless, headed toward the locker room shortly after the game, skipping the awards ceremony for both teams.

It was the first postseason defeat for the Lady Monarchs since they were beaten by Fremont High of Oakland in the 1988 state final.

“It was an awkward situation for a Morningside team to be in,” said Randle, who took the blame for his team’s poor performance. “As a coaching staff, we did not do a good job preparing our players for the transition game or the press.

“We were totally out of sync.”

After losing three times to Morningside in the past two years, including last season’s state final, Berkeley turned the tables on the Lady Monarchs with an inspired performance.

Led by All-American point guard Tanda Rucker and center Alexandra Kay, Berkeley (30-3) outclassed Morningside (32-3) in every phase of the game. The Yellowjackets put the contest out of reach by opening the fourth quarter with a 13-2 run to take a 65-38 lead.

“We wanted them back this year,” said Kay, referring to last year’s 67-56 loss to Morningside in the state final. “Now they know that we’re No. 1.”

The Lady Monarchs also beat Berkeley, 71-60, in the December title game of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions. The difference this time was that Rucker, the Yellowjackets’ senior leader, was not suffering from the flu.

Controlling play on both ends of the court, the 5-foot-10 Rucker scored 16 points and contributed game-highs of six assists and eight steals. Berkeley forced Morningside into 27 turnovers, including 20 in the first half when the Yellowjackets opened a commanding 38-18 lead.

Morningside cut its deficit to 50-36 late in the third quarter, but Berkeley quickly regained command by controlling the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.

Berkeley Coach Gene Nakamura had said earlier in the week that he believed his team was capable of exploiting some Morningside weaknesses, and he brought up the issue again Saturday.

“I knew they weren’t real strong in basic skills,” Nakamura said. “If you noticed, our people were in the right place at the right time. There’s a reason for that. We practice all the time on basic skills.

“But the key was the boards.”

Although they gave up several inches to Morningside’s taller front line, the Yellowjackets held a 68-50 edge in rebounding because of their aggressive play under the basket.

The 5-10 Kay had 18 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, and Tammy Holmes, a 5-9 junior forward, had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Berkeley.

Janet Davis, Morningside’s 6-4 center and leading scorer, never got untracked. She finished with 11 points, well below her 22-point average, and 10 rebounds. Because of turnovers, the Lady Monarchs had great difficulty getting the ball into Davis’ hands.

“I don’t know what was wrong,” Davis said. “We played like we were scared. We couldn’t even get the ball up court.

“I was trying to pump my teammates up, but I guess they were nervous. We played bad, really bad.”

The game unraveled for Morningside in a disastrous second quarter. With the score tied, 9-9, late in the first quarter, Berkeley scored nine unanswered points and went on to outscore the Lady Monarchs, 26-9, in the second quarter.

At that stage, it appeared that Morningside just wasn’t ready to play.

“Having beaten them three times a row had a big effect,” Randle said. “Sometimes you get a little complacent. This was one time we were not ready to play basketball.”

Morningside made only 19 of 69 shots (27.5%) and was a poor 11 of 23 (48%) from the free-throw line. Senior forward Akiba Flanagan paced the Lady Monarchs with 14 points.

With Davis and 6-2 sophomore forward Tina Thompson coming back, Randle said Morningside could very well return to the state final next season.

Of course, after Saturday’s debacle, looking ahead was the only way Morningside could ease the pain.