With Everything to Gain, Westminster Loses

Servite already had clinched a tie for the Golden West League title, secured a playoff berth and really did not need to win Friday against Westminster. The Lions, on the other hand, needed a victory to finish at least third and get an automatic bid.

The Friars were anything but flat, however. Led by Steve Shea’s 21 points and 12 rebounds, they handed the home team a 73-48 beating in front of an estimated 500 at Westminster.

Servite’s victory gave the Friars (20-6, 9-1) their first outright league basketball championship since winning the Angelus League title in 1982, and will probably put them among the top seven or eight teams when the playoff pairings are released Sunday.

“This is a tremendous lift for this program--especially since no one picked us higher than fourth for league,” Servite Coach Scott Hamilton said.

Regarding the playoffs, Hamilton said, “I’d expect we would be in the bracket with Sonora or Brea. I’m just glad we have the opening game at home, and we won’t have to play [Compton] Dominguez in the first round.”

The loss meant Westminster (11-13, 5-5) no longer controls its fate. Coach Gary Dickson and his team will have to wait until Sunday to see if the Lions get an at-large berth.

“Our downfall tonight? They pressed us and we turned the ball over,” said Dickson, whose club committed 17 turnovers. “They are a good club. They came to play tonight and we didn’t step up to the occasion. We did not meet the challenge.

“My biggest disappointment is we were dominated inside. We did not get big play from our big men.”

Shea saw to that, controlling the inside and making numerous layups courtesy of point guard Dennis Wisco, who had seven assists to go with 13 points.

Ly Nguyen, one of nine Lion seniors playing their final home game, led Westminster with 19.

In a game with so much importance to Westminster, the Lions got off to a horrible start, missing their first seven shots and falling into a 13-0 hole.

Servite had extended the gap to 39-22 by the half. When the third quarter started, Westminster made its one concerted run, an 8-2 spurt to get within 41-30. Unfortunately the run took nearly four minutes.

Servite finished the quarter with a 7-1 burst and the Lions never got closer than 12 the rest of the way.