SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS : DIVISION I-AA BOYS : Long Beach Poly Exploits Mistakes to Defeat Los Alamitos

It would have been easy for Los Alamitos Coach Steve Brooks to find excuses for the Griffins’ sub-par performance in a 58-48 loss to Long Beach Poly.

The Griffins, who have never reached a Southern Section boys’ basketball final, could have been nervous playing in the Division I-AA semifinals Tuesday before 4,200 at the Pyramid.

Their poor outside shooting could have been caused by being unfamiliar with the bigger arena. Los Alamitos was also playing the defending Division I-AA champions and top-seeded team in the bracket.

And Poly sealed the victory by making 10 of 11 free throws in the final 57 seconds with its pressure defense setting the table by forcing 23 Los Alamitos turnovers.

Still, Brooks never pointed any fingers.

“This wasn’t a 10-point ballgame,” Brooks said. “We were within six with less than a minute to go . . . we knock down a shot here or there and it’s a different story.

“But you can’t have that many turnovers and miss that many shots when you’re playing the No. 1 team. You have to give Poly credit and they did a great job.”

Senior guard Damion Dawson had 16 points for Poly (20-9), which advanced to Saturday’s final at The Pond of Anaheim to face unseeded Fontana (24-6), a 74-65 winner over Bellflower St. John Bosco. Los Alamitos ends the season 17-8

Although Dawson’s seven third-quarter points helped give Poly control, sophomores Mike McDonald, who had 16 points, and Leland Matthews, who had 11, each made four free throws in the final 54 seconds to ice the victory.

Los Alamitos tried to come back after Ali Ton made three three-pointers in the final 51 seconds, but the Griffins never drew closer than five. Ton finished with 19 points and six assists, but was held to three points for the first 21 minutes.

Los Alamitos center Jeremy Vandervoet was limited to 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field. He was averaging 23 points in the Griffins’ three previous playoff victories.

“We wanted to hold him under 20,” Poly Coach Ron Palmer said. “If he got that, Ton’s three-pointers at the end would have made it a lot closer.”

Poly’s defense frustrated Ton all night. Ton had an uncharacteristic night committing nine turnovers with McDonald, Dawson and Larry McCan taking turns hounding him.

“Larry was the key tonight,” said Palmer of his 5-foot-9 point guard who had nine points, four steals and four assists. “He did a great job handling the ball and made a great steal in the closing seconds to help put it away.”

Although Shaun Russ had eight points and seven rebounds for Los Alamitos, Poly’s defense limited the rest of the Griffins. Aside from Ton, Los Alamitos was 0 for 7 from three-point range.