BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Morse Cries Foul After RB Free Throws Lead to Win

All the celebrating Rancho Bernardo’s boys’ basketball team was doing was all for naught.

At least that’s how the Morse coaching staff saw it Friday night in the San Diego Section playoffs.

Because in wake of the Tigers’ 91-78 Division I quarterfinal loss to visiting Rancho Bernardo, Ron Davis, the coach of second-seeded Morse, didn’t want to acknowledge that the game took place.

“It wasn’t even a game,” said Davis. “As far as I’m concerned, the game wasn’t even played.”

Davis didn’t stop at calling the officiating the worst of this season. No . . . “The worst I’ve seen in my life,” he said.

Rancho Bernardo, benefactor of 42-for-62 free-throw shooting, begged to differ.

“The key for us was our free-throw shooting,” said Rancho Bernardo Coach Chris Carter. “The refs were calling it tight, but it opened up. It went both ways in the second half. I think (Morse) got a little discouraged, a little distracted.”

It was hard to tell whether Morse players were more distracted by the constant flow of fouls for which they were whistled, or by the reaction the calls would elicit from the Tiger staff.

So aghast was Davis at the officiating that he even sent his reserves into the locker room with 38 seconds left in the first half, while the five players on the court were left to fend for themselves.

“I didn’t want to see them demoralized any more,” Davis said. “They had seen enough bad calls.”

Behind the play--mostly free throws--of David Santos and Bill McMahon, the Broncos (17-10) took a 19-16 first quarter lead, and increased it to 38-33 by halftime.

Morse (19-6) outrebounded Rancho Bernardo, 40-23, and even took two brief leads in the second quarter before Rancho Bernardo took control with under a minute left in the period. The Broncos led, 34-33, when Morse committed a foul, then was called for a technical and Santos and McMahon hit two foul shots each for the 38-33 advantage.

The Tigers came close in the third quarter, drew to 55-51 with 55 seconds left, but McMahon hit another pair of free throws and threw in a layup for the 59-51 lead.

Morse, hurt when four of its five starters fouled out, pulled to within 66-58 with 5:32 left in the fourth quarter, but Greg Hanson hits back-to-back three-pointers for Rancho Bernardo and put the game out of reach.

“It was an aggressive game,” said McMahon, who had 25 points--13 from the foul line--for the Broncos. “But Morse isn’t as bad as its reputation. It was a clean game. They didn’t take any cheap shots.”

Byron Steele had a game-high 26 points for Morse. Kirk Hipple and Santos had 23 and 21 points, respectively, for Rancho Bernardo.