Vikings Win by 25, but Lack Intensity

St. Bernard Coach Jim McClune was not in the mood to celebrate after the Vikings defeated Pacifica, 78-53, in the first round of the Southern Section III-A Division playoffs Friday night.

McClune was upset with the team’s defense, which allowed the Mariners to score 16 layups, and said the Vikings will need to play with more intensity if they hope to advance past the second round of the playoffs.

“It’s my 10th year as varsity coach here and we’ve always been in the playoffs and it’s always nice to win your first game,” he said. “But now we’ll see how good we are. We’re the fourth seed but it’s hard to tell how good we are off of a game like this.”

The Vikings (18-10), who finished in a tie with Crespi for the Mission League title, will meet Atascadero at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The site of the game has not been determined.

“I was surprised at our lack of intensity,” he said. “I think we were the more talented team and that’s why we won. But I was amazed that we couldn’t play with more enthusiasm. If you can’t get up for a game in which your season is over if you lose, you can’t get up for anything.

“With few exceptions, we were not an emotional team. You couldn’t tell if we were up 20 (points) or down 20. If these guys were on the Titanic, they’d be laughing all the way down.”

Even All-Mission League center Chris Keldorf, who led the Vikings with 20 points, wasn’t spared by the coach.

“He’s our best player and when your best player cannot get into the game emotionally, it really affects the team,” McClune said.

About the only player who escaped the wrath of McClune was guard Darren Mitchell, who scored 18 points.

“When he plays under control like he did tonight, he’s very difficult to stop,” McClune said. “The only one who stops Darren is Darren.”

There has been plenty of controversy in City Section basketball circles this season, but another one appears to be brewing.

Westchester (23-2, 9-0 in Coastal Conference play) has rightfully drawn the top seeding in the 4-A playoffs that start Wednesday. The Comets are scheduled to play host to Granada Hills in a 7:30 p.m. game.

But neither Westchester Coach Ed Azzam nor Carson Coach Richard Masson are happy about the way 4-A teams were seeded in a meeting of City officials last week.

The coaches are unhappy about the probably second-round matchup of Westchester against Carson--two of the four 4-A teams that won their league titles. Carson (17-7) won the Pacific League title Friday with an 87-72 victory over San Pedro.

“I’ve been coaching a long time and I’ve never seen a No. 1 and another No. 1 paired up in the second round,” Azzam said. “The seedings for second and third-place teams were great. If I was a coach of one of those teams I’d be elated.”

Azzam said the playoff draw was particularly tough on Carson, which was not seeded despite having won its league title.

“To have two first-place teams meet in the second round is just not fair,” Azzam said. “It’s not fair to Carson and it’s not fair to us. It’s even less fair to Carson because they will have to travel to our place.”

Azzam said he was told by City administrator Lee Joseph that there is a chance that changes will be made in the pairings.

“I don’t know if they’re going to do that but we’ll probably find out by Monday,” he said.

There is a possibility, Azzam said, that Carson will be switched with the third-place team in the Southern League--either Crenshaw or Dorsey.

“That would put either Crenshaw or Dorsey at Kennedy (in the first round) and that would be a good game,” he said.

That would also place Carson against Palisades, the fourth-place team from the Western League, in a first-round game. At the moment, Carson is scheduled to play host to Kennedy, the North Valley League runner-up, on Wednesday.

Azzam said he will stand by any decision City officials make.

“We’re not happy with it,” he said. “But basically, we’re going to play and if we have to play Carson in the second round or Dorsey in the semifinals, we’re going to do it. If you’re the best team in the City, you’re going to be challenged along the way, anyway.”

Eight teams from the South Bay advanced to the second round of the Southern Section playoffs. Those games will be played at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

In addition to St. Bernard, Peninsula in I-AA, Mira Costa and Bishop Montgomery in II-A, Morningside and South Torrance in III-AA, Serra in IV-A and Chadwick in V-AA won playoff openers.

Second-round games include Redlands at Peninsula, Bishop Montgomery at Wilson of Hacienda Heights, Mira Costa vs. Burroughs of Ridgecrest at Redondo High, Bloomington at Morningside, Monrovia at South Torrance and Serra at Carpinteria.

Officials were looking for a site for the Chadwick-Bishop Diego game.

Bishop Montgomery could have one of the most difficult second-round games. The Wildcats, who finished fourth in the well-balanced Sierra League, are 19-7 after a 77-65 victory over Century League champion El Modena in their II-A opener on Friday.

Behind 21 points from guard Marlon D’Oyen and 16 by forward Andre English, Bishop Montgomery defeated North Torrance to improve to 13-10.

Top-seeded Morningside and fourth-seeded South Torrance earned first-round byes.

If there is a surprise team from the South Bay in the Southern Section playoffs, it might be Serra.

The Cavaliers (11-15) defeated Maranatha, 85-65, in a IV-A playoff game and are the only remaining South Bay team that does not have a winning record. But Serra played a difficult nonleague schedule and tied St. Anthony for fourth place in the Camino Real League, which is regarded as one of the Southern Section’s strongest leagues.

The Cavaliers were 5-17 when the playoffs started last season, but reached the quarterfinals before losing to St. Joseph of Santa Maria, 82-81.

Coach Dwon Hurt said the team has benefited from playing a difficult schedule.

“It gives us that added confidence coming in because we feel like we’ve played the best around,” he said.

The Cavaliers have also benefited from the addition of center Akeli Jackson, was academically ineligible until Jan. 31, and forward Arthur Tate, who was out because of a leg injury until the last week of the league season.

Tate scored 24 points and Jackson had 10 against Maranatha. The Cavaliers were led by guard Dan Carpenter with 26.

“I think we’re late bloomers,” Hurt said. “We had a lot of things that have held us back but we’re in much better shape now. I think right now we’re really coming together as a team.”

A lot of people may have been surprised that Mira Costa had to struggle to defeat Westlake, 67-63, in a Southern Section II-A first-round playoff game.

After all, Mira Costa started the playoffs 18-7 and Westlake was 10-13.

But Mira Costa Coach Glenn Marx wasn’t surprised that the Warriors gave his team a strong game.

“Newbury Park came out from that league and beat Culver City, so you never know what to expect,” he said. “But they’re (Westlake) a very well-coached team. So it’s not like we didn’t play a talented team.”

Marx said his players may have been hurt by not playing last week.

“We had been on a roll and then we had that week off and I think that hurt us,” he said.

Mira Costa will play Burroughs (15-6), which opened the playoffs with a 71-61 victory over Los Altos.

“We are much better off having a more difficult time in our opener because it’s more realistic for what we will face in the future rounds,” he said.