Monarchs, Mustangs Earn Pacific Shores Final Berths : Boy’s Basketball: Morningside outlasts Peninsula, 68-63, while host Mira Costa ekes out last-second win over Lakewood, 55-54.

Morningside High, denied the chance for a third straight Pacific Shores tournament title in 1991 when it lost to eventual champion Peninsula, avenged that defeat Thursday night.

The Monarchs (3-0) will now return to the championship game after outlasting Peninsula, 68-63, in Mira Costa’s Fisher Gym. They will play Mira Costa in Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. title contest at Mira Costa.

Mira Costa reached the finals by nipping Lakewood, 55-54, in the other semifinal game.

For the second consecutive night, Morningside squandered a huge early lead and was forced to fight off several furious rallies.

The Monarchs led by 17 late in the first quarter before Peninsula climbed back to trail 33-31 at halftime. Morningside rebuilt the lead to 16 with 58 seconds remaining in the third, but the Panthers rallied again and trailed by three points with a minute to play.

Dwight Curry’s basket and forward Dennis Savage’s free throws with three seconds remaining helped Morningside secure the win.

“We’ve come out with good intensity and it’s just difficult to maintain that for a long period of time,” said Monarch Coach Carl Franklin. “We’ve got to work on sustaining that. But building a big lead can tire a team out too, and I think the other team sensed that and came back on us.”

Curry scored a game-high 22 points and center Corey Saffold contributed 16 points and six rebounds. Forward Stais Boseman had his best game of the season, finishing with 14 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds.

Peninsula (2-1) got 17 points from 6-7 center Matt Acres, while forward Brian Bowles came off the bench to contribute 14.

Mira Costa 55 Lakewood 54

Josh Branca’s basket with one second remaining propelled the host Mustangs (3-0) into Saturday’s title game.

Branca (15 points) took a missed free throw and drove the length of the floor to score the winning basket. Center Frank Zeno had 13 points and Shane Willis contributed 11.

Mike Sutton paced Lakewood (2-1) with 16 points.