Prep Basketball Playoffs / THIRD ROUND : DIVISION III-AA : Morningside Continues Hex Over Estancia

Estancia has faced Inglewood Morningside in Division III competition three times in the last two years, and Friday, the Monarchs defeated the Eagles for the third consecutive time, 80-50, in a Southern Section quarterfinal game at Inglewood High School.

Morningside advanced to the semifinals to play Santa Margarita, a 65-60 winner over Sonora.

Estancia (15-12) led, 15-13, after one quarter behind Jim Faulkner.

But Morningside (26-5) outscored the Eagles, 24-10, in the second quarter to lead, 37-25, at halftime. Seniors Dwight Curry and Stais Boseman, who has committed to USC, fueled the run.

“They took us out of our game,” Estancia Coach Tim Parsel said. “We executed our game plan well in the first half and the early parts of the second, but then things fell apart.

Boseman, who led the Monarchs to the State title last season, was effective on defense keeping the ball out of Faulkner’s hands. The Estancia senior scored just five points in the second half and finished with 13, including three three-pointers.

Parsel said Faulkner tried to take too much of the burden upon himself.

“He was being guarded by a player who’s going to play Division I college basketball next season,” Parsel said. “Jim can’t do it all by himself.”

With USC basketball Coach George Raveling watching from the stands, Boseman scored 14 points while shutting down Faulkner.

The Monarch defense prevented the Eagles from moving the ball inside, forcing Estancia to take shots from the perimeter. Estancia took only two foul shots in the game.

Curry led all scorers with 18 points and Donminic Ellison added 13 for Morningside.

Chad Kinney had eight points and Mark Pierson had six points and eight rebounds for Estancia.