South Holds Off Damien for Tournament Title, 67-63

Necessity created the need for invention for South Torrance High Saturday night in the championship of the Damien tournament at La Verne.

Although South’s hastily installed offense needs some refinement, it was good enough for a 67-63 over Damien.

With Jim Williamson and Kyle McIntosh held in check by box-in-one and triangle-and-two defenses, South Coach Lamont Henry improvised a game plan.

“We’ve been winning ugly,” said Williamson, the tournament’s most valuable player. “We had to be patient. I just had to rely on my teammates to set screens.”

Williamson made a three-point shot with 48 seconds remaining to give South a 63-61 lead. He added two free throws 12 seconds later to secure the victory.

The 5-foot-10 senior finished with a game-high 24 points. Williamson also had eight assists to set a tournament record with 41 in four games.

McIntosh, who set a single-game tournament rebounding record with 16 in South’s 68-47 victory over Ambassador Christian, had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The 6-foot-8 senior center was also selected to the all-tournament team. He finished with 50 rebounds in the tournament to break the old mark of 45.

“We were kind of expecting them to do something different,” McIntosh said. “They videotaped our games and it was not surprising for them to not come out without a regular defense.”

South improved to 7-1 in winning its seventh game in a row after a season-opening loss to Peninsula in the Pacific Shores tournament. The victory also avenged a 79-67 loss to Damien in last season’s championship game.

After five lead changes in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, Derek Brown put South ahead, 58-57, on a 16-foot jump shot and a free throw to convert a three-point play.

South led, 21-14, after the first quarter and 37-33 at halftime.

“We expected defenses like this, but I wasn’t expecting this to happen so early,” Henry said. “We just had to get a little creativity in the middle of the game.”

Williamson and McIntosh combined for 17 of South’s first 19 points to help the Spartans race to a 19-7 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter.

Williamson had 10 points in the first quarter, but was held scoreless in the third quarter.

“When Williamson scored 10 points in the first three minutes, we had to do something,” Damien Coach Rick Winter said.

Damien closed to within a point three times in the third quarter. Paul Burke finally put Damien ahead, 46-44, on a three-point shot with 2:20 left in the quarter.

Damien increased its lead to 49-45 on two free throws by Tim Bias and another by Cullen Broadway.

Williamson made a three-point basket and a 15-foot jump shot and McIntosh converted a three-point play after being fouled on a short turnaround jump shot to help South score 10 consecutive points and take a 10-4 lead midway through the first quarter.