HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL BEVERLY HILLS TOURNAMENT : Saugus Comeback Falls Short as LB Wilson Advances to Final

The Saugus High basketball team huffed and puffed Friday night at Beverly Hills High, but the Centurions just couldn’t blow Long Beach Wilson’s house down.

After falling behind by a dozen points late in the second quarter, Saugus came roaring back in the second half with a swarming, trapping press that forced numerous turnovers, but the Centurion effort fell short and Long Beach Wilson won the semifinal of the Beverly Hills tournament, 50-42.

Saugus (5-1) will face Ventura in today’s third-place game at 6 p.m. Long Beach Wilson (6-1) will meet Culver City in the championship game at 7:30 p.m.

“The effort was there, but the performance wasn’t,” Saugus Coach John Clark said.

The numbers back up Clark’s statement. Saugus, which made 28 of 35 free throws in a first-round win over Buena on Tuesday, converted just 10 of 21 Friday night. From the field, the Centurions made just 16 of 45 shots. Clark, a math teacher at Saugus, knows that 35.6% shooting won’t win many games.

“It’s just one of those things,” Clark said. “It was the worst we played all year and yet we still had a chance to win the game.”

Wilson built a 30-18 lead late in the first half when Pete Svorkos nailed a three-point shot. From there, Saugus began to chip away with the type of play so characteristic to Clark’s teams over the years.

Saugus stayed patient offensively, but forced matters with a trapping press that harried Wilson. Trailing by nine at halftime, Saugus held the Bruins without a field goal for the first 4 1/2 minutes of the third quarter. And when sophomore Mike Williams went inside for a basket, Saugus closed the gap to 32-31 with three minutes left.

“I thought we were going to win the game,” Clark said. “But we kept shooting ourself in the toe.”

With Wilson clinging to a tenuous 45-42 lead, Saugus trapped point guard Chris Yager-Lehner near halfcourt. Saugus forward Chris Hernandez knocked the ball loose, but Yager-Lehner recovered and looped a pass underneath to a wide open Torrey Johnson, who laid the ball in and drew a foul from Josh Hinrichs.

The play gave the Bruins a 47-42 lead with 1:22 left, and all the Centurions could do was marvel at their bad fortune.

Hinrichs led Saugus with 19 points, senior Steve Tampus had 11 points.

In other tournament games:

Culver City 65, Ventura 45--Tremaine Faulk scored a game-high 20 points to lead Culver City (4-2) in a championship semifinal.

Randy Martinez led Ventura (6-1) with 13 points. Teammate Darien Roberts added 12.

Ventura fell behind by 11 in the first quarter and never seriously challenged.

Crespi 59, Notre Dame 39--Crespi rolled to a 34-18 first-half lead and coasted into today’s consolation championship game against Buena.

Rob Leff led the Celts (3-4) with 20 points and Matt Carpenter and Jeff Luderer added 12 and 10 points. Monte Marcaccini had 15 points for Notre Dame (2-4).

Buena 71, Rio Mesa 61--Lance Fay scored 35 points in the Bulldogs’ victory over Rio Mesa (1-2). Nick Houchin added 20 for the Bulldogs (4-2).

Jade Peterson scored 16 points for Rio Mesa, and teammates David Halvorsen and Swanson Nunnery each added 14.