DIVISION V-AA : Thomas Gives Brethren the Lift It Needs

Brethren Christian forward Scott Thomas has seen his season end at Harvard-Westlake High the last two years. He wasn’t about to let his career end here.

So Thomas pulled his team out of a second-half funk by scoring five points in the last 57 seconds to give the second-seeded Warriors a 40-37 comeback victory over third-seeded Brentwood Tuesday night in the Division V-AA semifinals. Brethren Christian (22-7) will play top-seeded Palos Verdes Chadwick, which beat Faith Baptist, 75-51, in the other semifinal, in Friday night’s final at an alternate site to be determined.

The Warriors return to the finals for the first time since 1990, when they lost to Faith Baptist.

“I didn’t want to make it three losses here,” said Thomas, whose teams lost to North Hollywood Campbell Hall in last year’s semifinals and Brentwood in the 1991 semifinals. “I had to do something.”

Thomas’ flying fall-away jumper in the lane left Brethren behind, 37-35, with 57 seconds left. He then stole the ball from Brentwood forward Teddy Miller and was fouled with 41 seconds remaining. However, he threw away the inbounds pass and the Warriors had to foul quickly.

Brentwood’s Mike Green gave Thomas a shot at redemption when he missed the front end of a one-and-one. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s two tips wouldn’t fall and Brethren had one last shot.

The Warriors called a timeout and set up a play for Thomas, who didn’t follow instructions but swished a three-pointer anyway to give Brethren a 38-37 lead with 25 seconds left.

“I was supposed to go to the hole, but I pulled up for the three instead,” said Thomas, who finished with 15 points, four steals, two blocked shots and two rebounds.

Brentwood (21-7) came down and promptly turned the ball over again when Miller took his eyes off a pass that was then picked up by Brethren guard Richard Mendoza. Mendoza was fouled and missed the front end of a one-and-one with seven seconds left. But the ball was tipped out to Brethren guard Seth Carey, who was fouled with two seconds remaining. He made both free throws and Brentwood failed to get off a final shot.

“These guys just didn’t know how to quit,” said Brethren Coach Richard Thomas, who gave his son Scott a big hug after the game. “I’m glad we finally got the monkey off our back.”

A disastrous third quarter almost kept the primate there. After taking a 25-16 first-half lead, Brethren fell apart when Brentwood turned up the pressure. The Warriors turned the ball over nine times in the third quarter and were outscored, 14-2.

Brentwood stretched its lead to 35-27 before Brethren began its comeback. Warrior forward Reggie Davis scored four of his 10 points in the fourth quarter.