HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Words, Poway Comes Back to Haunt Kearny

Bill Peterson said before the season began that his Kearny boys’ basketball team should be ranked No. 1 in the county.

Poway heard that, and Monday night beat Kearny in overtime, 54-49, to win its third Kiwanis Tournament title in four years.

Peterson was asked what he thought of the game. He grabbed a score book and counted off the number of appearances each team made at the free-throw line.

“What do I think? Twenty-two (actually 21) to four on the free-throw line,” Peterson yelled. “That’s what I think of it. End of comment.”

Fourth-ranked Poway (7-2) made 15 free throws, and No. 6 Kearny (8-1) made two. All five points by Poway in overtime were from the free-throw line.

Poway Coach Doug Wealch didn’t lose sight of Peterson’s preseason prediction.

“Kearny almost got us,” he said. “They’re the (self-proclaimed) No. 1 team in the county. They’re unbeaten.

“We didn’t play very well--you probably have to give Kearny credit for that--and we still won, so we must be pretty good.”

Kearny trailed in the first quarter, 15-4, but slowly made its way back. The Komets finally caught Poway at 45 with 5:47 left in regulation. They went ahead on Damion Victor’s drive to the basket, but Andy Davis’ basket with 4:00 tied the game at 47.

Poway held a 49-47 lead on Kyle Milling’s basket, but Kearny sent the game into overtime on Demetrius Brown’s shot from the top of the key with 29 seconds left.

Wealch said his first reaction was that the basket was a three-pointer, which would have given Kearny the victory, but it only counted for two.

Milling led Poway with 18 points and 17 rebounds. Davis had 12 points. Ali Nayab led Kearny with 18 points, and Brown had 15.

Kearny climbed back in the first 4:30 of the second quarter behind Nayab, who made two three-point baskets and scored a layup after a steal.

That ended a 14-2 run that pulled Kearny to 20-18 after trailing 15-4 with less than a minute left in the first quarter. Poway led at halftime, 28-24.