PREP BASKETBALL SPOTLIGHT : FACTS, FIGURES AND COMMENTS FROM FRIDAY’S SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES : MUTUAL ADMIRATION

Morningside and South Torrance left the Cal Poly Pomona gym Friday night with a greater appreciation of the other’s ability.

“Both teams played well,” said Morningside Coach Carl Franklin after the Monarchs successfully defended their Southern Section Division III-AA title with a 65-62 victory.

In particular, Franklin was impressed with the play of South point guard Jimmy Williamson, who brought the Spartans back from a 12-point, third-quarter deficit by scoring 13 of his team’s last 28 points, including nine in the fourth quarter.

“We might have to play them again (in the regionals), so I don’t want to give anything away,” Franklin said. “But I do think he’s a very intelligent player. We already knew he was a good ballhandler. But I think now we understand tendencies a little better. We hadn’t watched them this year. I don’t think you pick up on (video)tape his feel for the game. He has a tremendous feel for the game.”

Morningside swingman Stais Boseman also praised the 5-foot-9 Williamson, who led all scorers with 24 points and had seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

“Jimmy got hot and started making them play better,” Boseman said. “He almost won the game by himself. . . . He put the ball in the right places and got the ball to the right people at the right time. I didn’t know he was that good until today.”

Williamson, who missed a running three-point attempt at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime, was understandably dejected after the loss, which ended South’s 14-game winning streak. He said Morningside’s greatest asset is its balance. Four Monarchs scored in double figures, led by Boseman with 19.

“Everywhere you turn, you shut one (player) down and another one opens up,” Williamson said. “They come at you with this amoeba kind of thing. They just have a lot of great players.”

However, South Coach LaMont Henry said he would welcome the opportunity to play the Monarchs again in the Division III regionals, which start Tuesday night.

“I have to pat my kids on the back, because Morningside is a very experienced playoff team,” Henry said. “My kids made a good showing in their first appearance (in a section final). They gave all they had. We feel we can even play better. It was a good eye-opener for our kids, because if they can take this and learn from it, we can go into the regionals and have another good performance and hopefully meet Morningside again.”

COMPARING TALENTS

Henry was asked after the game who he considers the South Bay player of the year. Boseman, a 6-4 senior swingman, has won The Times’ award the past two seasons. But Henry, a 1977 Morningside graduate, believes Williamson deserves the honor this year.

“For me, it’s Williamson,” Henry said. “I think he’s dynamic. He’s been very consistent all season long. . . . When it’s clutch time, he just takes over.”

Henry said the same attributes can be found in Boseman, who made several big plays in the fourth quarter, including a three-point shot with 3:11 left that gave Morningside a 59-52 lead after South had closed to within four.

“Stais is just a natural athlete,” he said. “He knows when to step up when he has to. When he hit that three, that’s a sign of a guy knowing what to do. He’s hard to defend. If you play him too tight, he’ll go to the basket. If you lay off him, he’ll shoot the shot.”

THE OTHER LITTLE GUY

Williamson wasn’t the only point guard who played well in the III-AA final. Morningside’s Sean Harris, the smallest player on the court at 5-4, scored 15 points on six-for-eight shooting. He scored 13 in the first half to help the Monarchs to a 31-29 lead.

And Harris did a better job than Williamson of taking care of the ball. Harris had only two turnovers compared to 11 for Williamson.

NO PLACE TO GO

Unlike every other section champion in Southern California, Banning failed to earn a spot in next week’s regional tournament with a 59-58 victory over Monroe in the City Section 3-A Division final Friday night at the Sports Arena.

Crenshaw, the 4-A Division champion, and runner-up Dorsey will represent the section in the Division I regionals. Banning Principal Augustine Herrera said the Interscholastic Athletic Committee’s decision not to send the 3-A champion was based on the comparative strengths of the 4-A and 3-A divisions.

“I think it’s fair,” Herrera said. “Half of the (Southern-Pacific) conference was in 4-A and half was in 3-A. (Banning) won the 3-A section of our conference, but if you put the eight teams together, we were only about the fifth-best team. Crenshaw cleaned our clocks and Dorsey is better than us.”

Banning’s players, however, pointed out that they beat Dorsey once during conference play.

“All the champs deserve to go (to the regionals),” said center Bryan Hill, who had 14 points and 12 rebounds to help Banning finish 17-12. “It’s depriving other people of getting seen and having that feeling of being somebody.”

But forward Leon Bilbrew took it in stride.

“I really wanted to go on,” Bilbrew said. “But I’ll take this, since it’s a win.”

STAYING DRY

Banning’s players had a surprise waiting for Coach Marc Paez after the game. Paez, though, seemed to know something was up as he cautiously peered into the locker room to see most of his team standing near the door.

“Hey, when you get back to school and you want to do it, fine,” Paez said. “But I’ve got to get home on the bus.”

With that, senior Herb Bain took a cooler of water intended for his coach and dumped it on himself.

CAVALIER ATTITUDE

Serra forward Michael Boyd has a simple explanation for the Cavaliers’ winning streak, which grew to 14 games Friday night with a 69-53 victory over Verbum Dei in the Southern Section Division IV-A championship game at El Camino College.

“We just come out and try to play hard and execute what we do best--full-court man-to-man pressure,” Boyd said. “We do that well and get out to the early lead and it’s over.”

Serra never trailed against Verbum Dei, taking a 6-0 lead after 33 seconds and opening an 18-6 advantage with four minutes 21 seconds gone. It was the first section title in three tries for the Cavaliers, who had lost to Crossroads in the IV-A final last season and to Mater Dei in the 5-A final in 1986.

Serra center Akeli Jackson was anticipating a rematch with Crossroads, but those plans were nixed when Verbum Dei beat the top-seeded Roadrunners in the semifinals Tuesday. However, the matchup against Verbum Dei was even more satisfying for Jackson, who led Serra with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cavaliers ended a four-game losing streak against Verbum Dei, which had beaten Serra twice in Camino Real League play in 1991 and 1992 before moving to the Santa Fe League this season.

“We were looking forward to playing Crossroads, but when we got to play Verbum Dei that was even better,” the 6-8 Jackson said. “We lost in our 10th and 11th-grade years. We didn’t want to get burned and go out without ever beating Verbum Dei. Now we have bragging rights forever.”

OH BROTHER

Serra Coach Dwan Hurt’s brother, Cedric, operated the scoreboard during Friday’s game.

“I’m just glad that it wasn’t a close game and we didn’t have to rely on him to keep the time at the end,” Dwan said.

Cedric, who coached Bishop Montgomery to Southern Section girls’ finals in 1991 and 1992 but whose team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs this season, was more than willing to help out his brother.

“They didn’t have anybody else to do it,” Cedric said. “I just hope I get paid.”

COMEBACK KIDS

Brethren Christian rallied from a four-point deficit in the final minute for the second consecutive game, this time at the expense of Chadwick, to pull out a 44-43 victory in the Division V-AA championship game Friday night at Cypress Collge.

The Warriors won on a layup with 13 seconds left by forward Scott Thomas, son of Brethren Coach Richard Thomas.

“(Thomas) has got to feel proud as a father,” Chadwick Coach Tom Maier said. “I told him, ‘Your son did it, he was the hero.’ We knew he was going to get the ball. He just blew right by us.”

Chadwick led, 43-39, with under a minute left to play, but the Dolphins missed three one-and-one free throws, two by freshman Phillip Belin and one by senior Dylan Brown with 27 seconds left. After Thomas’ layup gave Brethren the lead, Chadwick’s Neil Thakur tried an off-balanced shot that fell short of the rim as time expired.

“We did not run our regular last-second shot,” Maier said. “The kids were too nervous, too anxious. But they’re just young kids.”

The only Chadwick player to score in double figures was Joe Giaconi, who finished with 18 points. Ironically, Giaconi failed to score in the first meeting between the teams Jan. 15, a 43-36 Brethren victory.

IN QUOTES

South Torrance point guard Jimmy Williamson on his team’s comeback from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit in a 65-62 loss to Morningside: “We rallied around each other. The bench got fired up, the crowd got fired up, so we got fired up. We had nothing to lose. We were the underdogs. Fourth quarter, down 10, you might as well give it your best shot. We did that and made a game of it.”

Morningside swingman Stais Boseman after the Monarchs’ victory: “I think we came in here a little tentative and a little nervous. There was so much pressure on us to repeat (as III-AA champions). Now that this game is over with and the state tournament coming up, I think we’ll be all right.”

Chadwick Coach Tom Maier after his team’s loss to Brethren Christian in the Division V-AA championship game: “I could go home and be very happy with our season. There is nothing wrong with being runner-up. I’m not a Buffalo (Bill). I haven’t lost three times in a row.”

Banning center Bryan Hill on the Pilots winning the City 3-A title two seasons after finishing 5-19: “After our 5-19 season, people were like, ‘Why are you even going to play next year?’ This is why we wanted to play, to get here.”

Monroe forward Kenyatta Niles, who missed two free throws and a three-point shot in the last 25 seconds of a 59-58 loss to Banning at the Sports Arena: “I’m used to shooting with a wall back there. All I could see was this little-bitty hole up there.”