DIVISION II-A : Two Late Free Throws by Kunz Get Kennedy Past San Marcos

Forward Pat Kunz made two free throws with eight seconds remaining to give Kennedy a 57-55 victory over San Marcos Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Southern Section II-A boys’ basketball playoffs.

Kunz was fouled by San Marcos’ Norm Kittle as he attempted to set a screen for teammate Morgan Murakami and then hit nothing but net on both free throws to put Kennedy into a section final for the second time in four years.

Kennedy (23-6) will meet top-seeded Trabuco Hills (24-5) for the Division II-A championship at 1 p.m. Saturday at the L.A. Sports Arena. San Marcos, which lost in the semifinals for the second consecutive year, finished 23-6.

“I was a little bit nervous, but I’m glad I was the one who shot the free throws,” Kunz said. “If the game’s on the line, I want to control my own destiny. I would rather be up there than anyone else on the team.”

Teammate Jermaine Galloway would second that notion. Galloway missed all five of his free throw attempts in the second half.

But Galloway also rejected an attempted tip-in by San Marcos center Rob Ramaker at the buzzer that preserved Kennedy’s victory in front of 1,800 fans at Santa Barbara City College.

San Marcos Coach Jeff Levender had a different version of the game’s final play.

“Rob got hacked,” he said. “He had position. He was going to tip it, but then a guy hit his arm as he was going to tip the ball. It was a foul all the way.”

San Marcos had two opportunities to send the game into overtime, but Carlo Campagna missed an 18-foot shot with three seconds remaining before Ramaker’s tip attempt failed at the buzzer.

The game matched two of the section’s best centers, Galloway and Ramaker, but the battle between the big guys was no contest. Ramaker dominated Galloway, scoring 22 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. At one point in the third quarter, Ramaker scored 10 consecutive points to give San Marcos a 36-30 lead.

But Kennedy rallied behind the play of Jeff Cummins and Murakami. Murakami had a key shot, hitting a three-pointer that pushed Kennedy ahead, 55-54.

San Marcos tied the game, 55-55, when reserve Eric Haynes stole the ball from Steve Vetica and was subsequently fouled. Haynes made only one foul shot and then Kennedy worked the clock down to 10 seconds before calling a time out.

When play resumed, Kittle pushed Kunz as he attempted to set up Murakami and it wasn’t long before Kennedy was making plans a date at the Sports Arena.