HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL : Serra’s Defense Shuts Down Morse; Etheridge Scores 34

The booming voice ranting and raving from the sidelines wasn’t who it should have been.

With his team up 14 points with 14 seconds remaining in a pivotal City Eastern League boys’ basketball game Friday night, Serra Coach Tom Williams was red in the face and fit to be tied.

A Serra player misdirected an inbounds pass, and he heard an earful as a result.

“We set up situations and we we want them to do it,” Williams said after Serra’s 63-51 victory over Morse at Serra. “We want them to have the discipline to do it. What if that was a playoff game and it’s a one or two point game?”

That was not the case as the league’s first (Morse) and second-place (Serra) teams went at it. The only time it was a that close was in the first half. The second half was pure Serra.

While Serra pressed and squeezed, the Tigers rolled over and went to sleep. It was as if they had all taken sleeping pills during halftime. Morse Coach Ron Davis didn’t argue the point.

“They caught us a little flat,” Davis said. “They came ready to play, and we didn’t. I think they just wanted it more than we did. They were aggressive, they played hard.”

They did. Serra’s man-to-man defense stymied the shooting of Edwin Charles, Morse’s leading scorer. Charles was held to 10 points, and only scored four points in the last three quarters before he fouled out with 4:40 remaining.

“That hurt us a little when Charles got into foul trouble,” Davis said. “But they just gave us a good game. They had the momentum. But I think we were due a game like this.”

And Tony Etheridge was due a game like the one he played Friday. Etheridge, who was averaging 15.7 points as the Conquistadors leading scorer going into the game, scored a season-high 34 points.

“Tony had a great game,” Williams said. “He’s starting to come around. The last couple of games, he’s playing the kind of basketball he’s capable of playing.”

Morse held a 15-12 lead after the first quarter, which the Tigers extended to 20-14 early in the second. But Etheridge scored 10 points in the second quarter to pull Serra even, 24-24, at the half. His scoring barrage continued in the second half, including 14 points in the third quarter, where Serra pulled away, 44-34.

“We talked about this game all week,” Etheridge, who pulled down 11 rebounds. “Last time we played them we were up by eight at the half, but we just let up. We weren’t about to let that happen this time. I think we’re finally starting to gel, starting to assemble, piece by piece.”

The victory moved the Conquistadors (11-5, 4-1) into a tie for the league lead with Morse (14-5, 4-1).