DIVISION II-AA ROUNDUP : Tustin’s Rally Puts a Stop to Muir, Vaughn

Tustin refused to knuckle under to a superb floor show by Pasadena Muir point guard Jacques Vaughn, and rallied for a 62-60 victory over the Mustangs in the Southern Section II-AA quarterfinals Friday night at Foothill High School.

The victory put the Tillers (22-7) into Tuesday’s semifinals, where they will meet Glendora.

Tustin’s Maurice Fletcher led a rally when he started connecting from three-point range with 4 minutes 35 seconds left in the third quarter. Behind Vaughn’s shooting, Muir (20-9) took a 44-33 lead midway through the third quarter.

“Vaughn was absolutely killing us,” Tustin Coach Tom McCluskey said. “He’s the fastest player I’ve ever seen, a one-man wrecking crew. We put our little trap on him, because we knew if we could stop him from penetrating, we would make it close at the end.”

Tustin tied the score, 48-48, on Fletcher’s three-point basket with 6:06 left in the game, and went ahead to stay, 51-48, on Gentry Moore’s three-pointer with 3:40 remaining.

But the biggest blow to Muir’s hopes was delivered by its own coach, Rocky Moore, who received a technical foul when he charged onto the court with 28 seconds left to protest a call against one of his players. With Tustin ahead, 58-54, Fletcher stepped to the line and sank four free throws. The Tillers also got possession of the ball.

Fletcher led all scorers with 23 points, including four three-pointers. Vaughn paced Muir, which shot 67% from the floor, with 22 points. Muir hit 10 of 11 shots during a 22-point second quarter.