Something Definitely Missing in Estancia’s Loss to Morningside

Estancia Coach Tim O’Brien stood at the podium, trying to make sense of his team’s mow-down by Inglewood Morningside. His best player fouled out early. His other players couldn’t make it happen. And now, after watching his team fall, 95-85 in overtime, he was in the loser’s seat, just as he was last year.

“I give them credit,” O’Brien said, taking a moment to compose himself.

“Their athletes were . . . really just too hard for us to handle.”

‘Tis true. Morningside’s athleticism was dazzling. The Monarchs offered a non-stop show of cool moves and hot hands, alley-oop slams, fancy-dance drives . . . and the sound of swish all around.

Like Estancia, which lost in the III-AA title game to Pomona last year, Morningside last year lost the III-A championship game to Servite. But by the end of Saturday’s game, Morningside made sure it wouldn’t be on the mourning side again.

Guard Stais Boseman provided the Monarchs’ biggest spark, scoring 27 points, which seemed more like 50. In an instant, Boseman was here, there, here again. You blink, he’s gone, he scored.

Somehow, Estancia kept up. After being overwhelmed early in the second quarter--at one point trailing, 30-18--the Eagles whittled the deficit to two and trailed, 33-31, at the half. A second-half burst gave Estancia what seemed to be the cushion it needed, an 11-point lead at 63-52.

But the Eagles probably didn’t count on foul play: Fuerbringer fouled out with 4:06 to go in regulation, Morningside smelled blood and swarmed in for the kill. Bam, bam, bam. Morningside rallied and tied the score, 81-81, with 11 seconds left on a three-point swish by Dominic Ellison, and time ran out.

And overtime was no time for Estancia. No time to be without Fuerbringer. No time to give a top-seeded team such as Morningside a chance to re-group and re-charge. Three minutes later, Morningside had steamed to victory.

O’Brien and his players held their heads in their hands. Fifteen minutes earlier, they had the game in their hands. That was a much better feeling. Estancia could take consolation in the fact that it lost the section title last year and won the State title a week later. But the Eagles weren’t smiling.

“That was one I had to coach around,” O’Brien said. “It was a fun game to coach. Sure beats getting blown out, or having to play all your subs . . . From a coach’s point of view, I feel like I earned my 50 cents today.”

As did most of the Eagles, especially the focus of next year, junior Jim Faulkner. He led the team with 24 points, guided the Eagles as best anyone could guide a team through a monster like Morningside.

As for Fuerbringer, he scored 21 points, same as he did last year in the Eagles’ 48-45 loss to Pomona. Certainly, there were some fine moments. Some nice moves inside, a couple of quick finishes off offensive rebounds, and a generally solid effort navigating around Morningside’s monster in the middle, Pauliasi Taulava, who at 6 feet 9, 255, was like Fuerbringer times two.

But where were those big baskets? Where, besides that single third-quarter dunk, were those monster slams? Where was the fiery Fuerbringer intensity that turns that elfish grin of yours to one of devilish delight?

You know the look. Like a first-grader about to pull some girl’s pigtails. Like that comic-strip kid Calvin when he and Hobbes are up to no good.

Where, Matt, was that Mattitude?

And when you fouled out, what was that you ran over to tell your teammates? Good luck . . . Go for it . . . Way to go, Estancia?

“I just told them, ‘Win it for me,’ ” Fuerbringer said.

Frankly, it would seem the Eagles would want to win it for themselves, but who’s to say?

If anyone had something to say Saturday, it was Fighting Irish of Kennedy.

Though Kennedy lost the II-A championship to Trabuco Hills, 52-50, it proved once again to be the top dog of underdogs. Sure, DePaul-bound senior Jermaine Galloway has some nice moves to go along with his 6-10 frame, and yep, that wacky coach in green polyester, John Mayberry, knows his stuff, and OK, the Irish claim to have more luck than a pocketful of four-leaf clovers, but Kennedy playing its way into a championship final? Again?

Kennedy came close. But really, who expected Trabuco Hills’ 6-11 Aussie standout Gavin Vanderputten to make like a platypus and take a slow dive? Scoring only two points in the first half? Eight in the game when he averages more than 20?

Fortunately, the Mustangs had winning direction from their short, shaggy-haired guards, Brett Poulos and Ryan Holland--you know, the ones who look like street urchins from a Charles Dickens novel--and just enough extra boosts all around to make up for Vanderputten’s disappearance.

Unfortunately, the game took a painful turn when Kennedy’s half-court shot-swishing guard, Morgan Murakami, dislocated his elbow. Murakami, who plays basketball as if he’s bungee-cord jumping, crashed to the court after leaping to tip in a shot. As he was carried off the court in a stretcher, his teammates wept and the crowd chanted his name.

Seven minutes later, Trabuco Hills pulled out the victory by a scant two points. With the clock ticking down, and without Murakami, the Irish had nothing left in their bag of tricks.

Short on luck, tall on respect.