SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : DIVISION III-AA GIRLS : Morningside Rallies to Beat Newport Harbor

Shannon Jakosky knew she was asking a lot of her team when it stepped on the court Wednesday night against Inglewood Morningside, the favorite to win the Southern Section Division III-AA girls’ basketball title.

But Jakosky knew something that others didn’t--her band of players could beat the state’s seventh-ranked team.

And they could have.

Perhaps they should have.

But they didn’t.

Instead, Morningside overcame a seven-point halftime deficit, took the lead with less than two minutes remaining and hung on for a 61-57 semifinal victory over the fourth-seeded Sailors at Marina High.

“I figured they would be tough, and I didn’t think they would lay down, but I didn’t expect it would be this close,” said Morningside Coach Roderick Tatum after his team, now 25-2, won its 15th consecutive game.

Newport Harbor’s only senior, Michaela Ross, had no problem competing with the athletic Monarchs. She scored a game-high 33 points and had 14 rebounds.

But much of the story revolved around her teammates, who withstood Morningside’s pressure most of the night and applied plenty of their own. The game plan was simple: maintain composure, play tough defense and make Morningside earn its points. With two juniors and two sophomores in the starting lineup, and the only player coming off the bench being a sophomore, that was a tall order.

“This was the time for them to become young women and grow up,” Jakosky said.

There was plenty of opportunity to mature. Morningside started four seniors, including 6-foot-2 Tina Thompson, who has signed to play with USC next year. Typical of the night’s mismatches, Thompson was being guarded by sophomore Melissa Schutz, who scored four points and had five rebounds in the second quarter as Newport Harbor turned a 13-9 deficit into a 30-23 halftime lead. Ross had 15 at the half.

But the Sailors (20-7) also showed their youth. Intimidated by Morningside’s size advantage, they missed several layups in the first quarter. In the third, holding a 34-25 lead, a breakdown that included four turnovers during a 2:11 span, helped Morningside to a 10-0 run.

“There was no excuse to give up the lead in the third quarter,” Jakosky said. “There was no need to panic at that point.”

The Sailors rallied though, and seven lead changes later tied the score, 54-54, on Mandy Clayton’s free throws. Then disaster. Thompson (21 points, 16 rebounds) made the front-end of a one-and-one opportunity, and 6-foot Cha-Ron Walker (20 points, 13 rebounds) rebounded the miss on the second shot and scored.

Thompson hit two more free throws before Newport Harbor junior Genevieve Evarts’ three-point basket with 30 seconds left made it 59-57.