Santa Clara Hits in Overtime; Montclair Prep Misses

With Pasadena Poly’s David Poole on the outside and Robert Reeder on the inside, the Montclair Prep boys’ basketball team was left on the outside, looking in.

Montclair Prep never led after the first two minutes and fell, 63-57, to the top-seeded and undefeated Panthers in a semifinal game of the Southern Section Division V-AA playoffs Tuesday night at Occidental College.

The Mounties, last year’s V-AA champions, finished the season 20-7. Pasadena Poly (27-0) advances to the final against Santa Clara, tentatively scheduled at 4:30 p.m. Friday at the UC Irvine Bren Center.

The Panthers relied on Poole and Reeder, who turned the Mounties inside out.

Poole, a 5-foot-8 senior guard, made five of six three-point shots en route to 17 points that opened the inside for Reeder, a 6-7 senior bound for the U.S. Naval Academy. Reeder finished with game-high totals of 25 points and 11 rebounds.

“I think overall we played a good game,” said Montclair Prep’s Kevin Bentley, a 6-1 junior who tried to match up with Reeder and finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Micah Cohen added 14 points, including four three-point baskets, and Carlease Clark had six points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Mounties.

“This is a little disappointing,” Bentley said. “But they had a big man who was just too much for us.”

Montclair Prep’s tallest starter was 6-2 junior Darin Brock. Pasadena Poly not only had Reeder, but also 6-5 forward Seth Yohalem, who carried the Panthers in the third quarter when he scored nine of his 11 points.

Despite Pasadena Poly’s superior size and depth, Montclair Prep stayed within striking range and never trailed by more than 12 points.

Montclair Prep, which had a nine-game winning streak snapped, pulled to within, 37-36, in the third quarter after a 10-2 run that included two three-point baskets by Rocky Steryo. But that was as close as the Mounties got.

Steryo made only three of 13 shots and finished with nine points, all on three-point shots. He finished with 116 three-pointers this season.

“I was disappointed in my own play,” Steryo said. “I just couldn’t make it. We were missing our shots, and that Reeder was just too overpowering.”