Calvary Chapel Falls in the Finals, 57-45

An all too familiar nemesis spoiled Calvary Chapel’s first trip to the Southern California Regional boys’ basketball finals.

Highly-touted point guard Baron Davis, who had 30 points and 11 rebounds, helped Santa Monica Crossroads break open a close game and defeat Calvary Chapel, 57-45, in the Division IV final Saturday at the Pond.

Crossroads (29-3), which advanced to its first state final since 1987, defeated Calvary Chapel (26-6) a week ago to win the Southern Section Division IV-A championship. Crossroads also eliminated the Eagles in the section semifinals last season.

“It’s disappointing,” Calvary Chapel Coach Craig Falconer said. “Down the stretch, they made the key plays and we didn’t.”

The Eagles fought to within two, 40-38, after three quarters, but their leading scorer, Joe Ortiz, fouled out midway through the fourth quarter. The Roadrunners scored seven consecutive points to open the fourth quarter and made 12 of 15 free throws in the final four minutes to seal the victory.

For Calvary Chapel, it was another frustrating loss to Crossroads. In the section Division IV-A final last week, the Eagles stayed within striking distance for the duration and forced the Roadrunners to stall their way to a victory.

This time, Calvary Chapel tried a different approach.

“We wanted to run and trade 20-footers with them,” Falconer said. “I thought if we could’ve played this game in the 80s, we’d have a better chance.”

Both teams started fast and combined to shoot 63% from the field in the first quarter. Calvary Chapel flourished with its guard play and made four of six three-point attempts in the quarter. But the Eagles only managed to stay even, 18-18.

Calvary Chapel senior point guard Kevin Falconer, the coach’s son, made three three-pointers in the first quarter and finished with 11 of his 17 points in the quarter.

His junior backcourt mate, Ortiz, scored seven of his 12 points in the second quarter, including a driving layup around Davis to give the Eagles a 23-20 lead with 5 minutes 52 seconds remaining in the quarter.

“We just ran out of gas too early,” Craig Falconer said. “After the first few minutes of the second quarter, Baron Davis took over the game.”

Davis’ talents were on display during Crossroads’ 11-0 run in a 3 1/2-minute span that turned a one-point deficit into a 36-26 lead.

Davis started the run by making a three-pointer from 22 feet on the left wing. On one defensive sequence, he blocked a layup attempt by Falconer. Davis also made three of four free throws during the run.

And after teammate Garrett Nichols made a three-pointer with 2:34 remaining in the second quarter, Davis rebounded a missed layup by Falconer, pushed it up court and passed to Le Quan Tolbert (14 points) for a layup.

“I wanted to keep pushing it up, trying to create things for me and my teammates,” said Davis, who made 15 of 20 free throws to set a Southern Regional championship game record.

Crossroads Coach Daryl Roper pointed out that his team’s defense was equally important. After a torrid first quarter, Calvary Chapel shot 29% from the field the rest of the way.

Calvary Chapel center Robert Cutler (four points, two of six field goals), forward Garid Beeler (three points, one of three field goals) played prominent roles in two previous regional victories this week, but both never got going Saturday.