Serra’s Charge Is Good Enough for 55-53 Win : Basketball: The Cavaliers rally from a nine-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to defeat Long Beach Poly.

Dwan Hurt’s chosen profession is basketball coach.

His players on the Serra High basketball team, however, were praising his expertise as a psychologist after the Cavaliers rallied for a 55-53 victory over Long Beach Poly in a semifinal game of the Artesia tournament Wednesday night at Artesia High.

Unsatisfied with his team’s effort in a 64-60 victory over Valhalla in the first round on Monday, Hurt conducted a two-hour practice session at Serra afterward.

“It was just a little psychological trick,” Hurt said. “It showed them if they can still play hard after a game, then they did not give it their all.”

The Cavaliers (8-5), who lost to two-time defending City 4-A Division champion Westchester in the fifth-place game of the Tournament of Champions last week, will meet State Division II champion Artesia in the championship game Saturday night at 7:30.

Akeli Jackson had 22 points and Michael Boyd, who had 33 points in Serra’s quarterfinal victory over Lynwood, added 17.

Zerrick Campbell scored a game-high 23 points for Poly (7-4), which will meet Dominguez in the third-place game Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

“We are just destined to be in the final,” said Jackson, a 6-foot-8 senior center. “The practice session kept us motivated and focused. Coach put it in our mind that we can beat anybody if we give it our all.”

Poly, ranked third in Southern Section Division I and 12th in the state, had a 43-34 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Boyd tied the score, 47-47, on a three-point basket from the top of the key with two minutes, 57 seconds to play.

Arthur Tate (10 points) followed a missed shot to give Serra its first lead, 49-47, since the first quarter with 1:38 to play.

Jackson made a turnaround jump shot 11 seconds later and Boyd made two free throws with 29 seconds to play to increase the lead.

Boyd added two more free throws in the final 18 seconds to secure the victory.

“We haven’t been playing to our abilities,” Boyd said. “The extra practice helped us improve a lot. All we had to do was play hard and focus on the game instead of worrying about the other team.”

Westchester 61, Bell Gardens 49--Danny Walker was five of seven from three-point range and finished with a game-high 22 points in a consolation semifinal game.

Westchester, which outrebounded the Lancers, 24-15, extended a one-point halftime lead to 45-34 after three quarters.

Jason Sanders and Ben Sanders added 16 and 12 points for Westchester, which will meet Verbum Dei in the consolation final Saturday afternoon at 12:30.

Valhalla 55, Hawthorne 44--Ray Outler scored 15 points and Richard Ortega and Marcus Jones (10 rebounds) had 11 each for Hawthorne in the consolation bracket game.