Missed 3-Point Shots Lead to Morningside’s 79-59 Loss to Palo Alto : Boys’ basketball: The Monarchs come up empty in their bid for a second consecutive title.

Morningside High’s bid for a second consecutive State Division III basketball title ended in a hail of missed three-point shots Saturday night at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

Morningside (29-6) made only two of 20 three-pointers. That statistic, combined with the absence of point guard Sean Harris, was more than the Monarchs could overcome in a 79-59 defeat to Palo Alto, which completed a 31-0 season.

Harris, a 5-foot-5 senior, did not make the trip to Oakland because of disciplinary reasons. According to a source, Harris was involved in an incident at another school last week and was expelled from Morningside. Monarch Coach Carl Franklin refused to comment on the situation but said Harris did not practice with the team all of last week.

“We were out of sync all week,” Morningside center Corey Saffold said. “We didn’t have a structured practice all week.”

Harris’ absence showed in the opening minutes of Saturday night’s game. On the Monarchs’ first three possessions, they committed two turnovers and swingman Stais Boseman missed a three-point try from behind the NBA line. Boseman, the team’s leading scorer on the season, made only three of 19 shots and missed all nine of his three-point attempts, finishing with 12 points.

Guard Donminic Ellison also had an off night for Morningside, making only two of nine three-point attempts. Ellison led the Monarchs with 18 points. On several of their three-point tries, Boseman and Ellison shot from beyond the NBA stripe.

“I think everybody wanted to make the big shot,” Franklin said. “We got into a mode where we were shooting a lot of three-pointers.”

It was the wrong mode, Saffold said. The 6-7 senior was the only Morningside starter who shot better than 50%, making six of 10 field goals and finishing with 14 points.

“We got away from trying to get the ball inside,” Saffold said. “We should have been pounding the ball and taking it to the basket. But all those ifs add up to a big zero.”

Boseman agreed. “We shot three or four that were too long,” he said. “We could have slowed it up and easily worked for a layup.”

Ellison said the team was affected by the absence of Harris, who missed his first start in two seasons.

“The team was down,” Ellison said. “Just as well as a basketball player, he’s a friend too. It was tough to make this trip.”

The game was close until Palo Alto went on a 14-0 run in the final two minutes 49 seconds.

Morningside had pulled within 65-59 on a free throw by Saffold with 3:20 left, but Palo Alto guard Mark Thompson answered with a three-point shot to ignite the Vikings’ late run.

Forward David Weaver led four Palo Alto players in double figures with 25 points. The Vikings shot 51.7% compared to 34.3% for Morningside, and they outrebounded the Monarchs, 44-24.