HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Kearny Survives Serra’s Bid

Kearny expected to be run through the ringer in its bid to remain undefeated in a second-round game against unbeaten Serra in Friday’s Kiwanis Tournament game. Instead, the No. 6 Komets had to stand around and wait for their seventh victory without a loss, 53-48, over the host Conquistadors.

Serra (4-1), leading 21-20 with 4:20 to go in the second quarter, advanced the ball to midcourt and held it there until 12 seconds remained. The strategy was to use the final 260 ticks of the clock to get the last shot. So while nine other players stood around the key randomly yawning, smirking, scratching, wiping off sweat and adjusting their uniforms--and the crowd became unruly--Justin Wible dribbled. And dribbled, and dribbled.

When Serra finally tried for the last shot, it missed twice and Kearny gladly jogged into the locker room trailing after being outscored, 7-2, in the second period. The Komets regrouped and quickened the pace in a third period where they outscored the Conquistadors, 20-9, to pull back in front by 10.

“I felt (that) if they’re not going to come out to defend us, we’ll take a one-point lead,” Serra Coach Tom Williams said. “We had two guys on the floor that needed a rest.”

“I thought they did us a big favor,” Kearny Coach Bill Peterson said. “We were not running our offense well, we were out of synch, we had two guys with two fouls and they had the momentum.”

The referees, who asked not to be named, allowed the 4:20 stall because the “lack of action” rule, which prohibited such stalling, was abolished this year.

Serra cut the lead to 45-42 on Eddie Hinton’s layup with 1:56 left, but Kearny, which had four players in double figures led by Ali Nayab’s 13 points, made five of seven free throws thereafter. Kearny will face Madison in the semifinals tonight at 8:15 p.m.