Sea Kings Can’t Shoot Straight, Lose

The game plan seemed simple enough. To handle the defensive pressure from Inglewood Morningside, Corona del Mar had to make its shots count.

The Sea Kings didn’t, particularly in the second half, and Morningside took a 61-46 victory Thursday night in a Division III Southern California Regional boys’ basketball semifinal at Morningside.

Corona del Mar (23-8) made only 17 of 54 field-goal attempts, five of 20 in the second half.

A 27-23 halftime lead became a 42-32 deficit by the time the third quarter had ended as Corona del Mar managed only a single basket, a three-pointer by Alec Hanson, in the period.

Kevin Hansen led the Sea Kings with 14 points and eight rebounds. Judd Hietbrink had 10 points and six rebounds. But Hansen, who faced constant pressure from Morningside’s rotating press, made only four of 17 shots from the field.

“I still feel we could have beaten them if we make shots when we are wide open,” Corona del Mar Coach Paul Orris said.

Corona del Mar hit only five of 20 three-point attempts.

Morningside (23-10) advances to the regional final Saturday at the Great Western Forum, where it will play Torrance Bishop Montgomery.

The Monarchs got 21 points from guard Tracy Cathey and 10 points each from Dante Tatum, Dwayne Trotter and Khali Young. Trotter grabbed 18 rebounds.

As active as the Morningside press was, Corona del Mar found opportunities to get its shots off, particularly from long range. That was most evident in the first half.

The Sea Kings fell behind, 11-2, but recovered and managed to penetrate the key several times for some easy baskets. Corona del Mar tied the score, 13-13, at the 6:04 mark of the second quarter, and eventually led, 25-20, following a basket by Brooks Morris and a three-pointer by Hansen.

Morningside Coach Carl Franklin said he was concerned at that point because he thought the Monarchs had worked hard to get the early lead, only to blow it.

“I thought we had good defensive pressure, but we didn’t capitalize early in the game,” he said. “They are fundamentally sound and we let them get to us. I felt that if we were going to get beat, we were going to beat ourselves.”