SOUTH PASADENA — It took 56 minutes, one loss on Thursday and a win with an asterisks a day later, but the San Marino High boys’ basketball team secured the Rio Hondo League’s final playoff berth in a wild afternoon of tiebreakers Friday at South Pasadena High.
The Titans are not officially credited with a win, but defeated Blair, 36-34, in one half of play in the day’s second tiebreaker in clinching in the league’s final automatic playoff position heading into Sunday’s CIF Southern Section postseason pairings.
The Titans are not officially credited with a win, but defeated Blair, 36-34, in one half of play in the day’s second tiebreaker in clinching in the league’s final automatic playoff position heading into Sunday’s CIF Southern Section postseason pairings.
“This was unchartered waters for myself, the coaches and the boys,” said San Marino Coach Mihail Papadopulos, whose team was in this predicament after a 85-73 double-overtime loss to Blair on Thursday. “I’m proud of my guys because we’ve felt all season that we were one of the three best teams in league and finally proved it.”
Playing only one half of basketball to determine a winner, San Marino led, 18-16, after one quarter and 36-30 with 1:11 left in the second as senior Max Taw hit a three-pointer with 1:32 remaining, followed by an additional free throw 21 seconds later.
After committing a costly turnover with 1:02 remaining, the Vikings forced a defensive stop on San Marino’s next possession and then pulled within four on two free throws from Joshua Brown at 25.8 seconds.
Instead of immediately fouling, Blair attempted to force a turnover before eventually fouling Taw with 15.2 seconds remaining.
Playing only one half of basketball to determine a winner, San Marino led, 18-16, after one quarter and 36-30 with 1:11 left in the second as senior Max Taw hit a three-pointer with 1:32 remaining, followed by an additional free throw 21 seconds later.
After committing a costly turnover with 1:02 remaining, the Vikings forced a defensive stop on San Marino’s next possession and then pulled within four on two free throws from Joshua Brown at 25.8 seconds.
Instead of immediately fouling, Blair attempted to force a turnover before eventually fouling Taw with 15.2 seconds remaining.
Taw missed two free throws and Blair’s Rajon Moore, the hero of the first tiebreaker, missed a three-pointer with nine seconds remaining that was rebounded by Vikings center Sherman Simpson, who scored on an offensive rebound with 3.2 seconds left to bring Blair within 36-34.
Yet, the Vikings did not call a timeout to stop the clock and San Marino never inbounded as the clock expired.
“I was telling my kids to foul and I thought the clock would stop after they took it out of bounds, but I guess the clock was still running. I’ll take that mistake,” Blair Coach Eric Kinley said. “It is what it is and I’m not sure how much we could do in three seconds. Our big mistake was not fouling quickly [after Brown’s free throws].
“I told the guys to keep their heads up and hopefully we’ll get [an at-large] playoff bid.”
Titans junior Jasper Hwang scored a team-best 17 points, a night after he was rushed to the emergency room by team trainer Nick Drazenovic after taking an elbow that opened a gash in his lower lip Thursday evening.
“I couldn’t miss this game,” Hwang said. “I owed it to my team to play.”
Brown led Blair with 13 points.
When the day started, San Marino (14-11 overall, 5-5 in league), Temple City (14-9, 5-5) and Blair (11-12, 5-5) were all tied for third place and first had a coin flip in which Titans Athletic Director Andrew Gayl spun heads, while his counterparts Saul Rico of Blair and John Van De Veere of Temple City flipped tails.
The odd coin out gave San Marino a bye as Blair and Temple City played an elimination half of basketball that the Vikings won, 27-24, thanks to 12 points from Brown, nine rebounds from Simpson and a game-winning three-pointer from Moore.
Eric Olivas led Temple City with 12 points, but the Rams did not overcome 15 turnovers.
“The kids weren’t ready to play,” said Temple City Coach Eric Chin, whose team helped force the tiebreakers by upsetting league champion South Pasadena, 53-52, on Thursday night. “Hopefully, we’ll get an at-large berth.”
“I was telling my kids to foul and I thought the clock would stop after they took it out of bounds, but I guess the clock was still running. I’ll take that mistake,” Blair Coach Eric Kinley said. “It is what it is and I’m not sure how much we could do in three seconds. Our big mistake was not fouling quickly [after Brown’s free throws].
“I told the guys to keep their heads up and hopefully we’ll get [an at-large] playoff bid.”
Titans junior Jasper Hwang scored a team-best 17 points, a night after he was rushed to the emergency room by team trainer Nick Drazenovic after taking an elbow that opened a gash in his lower lip Thursday evening.
“I couldn’t miss this game,” Hwang said. “I owed it to my team to play.”
Brown led Blair with 13 points.
When the day started, San Marino (14-11 overall, 5-5 in league), Temple City (14-9, 5-5) and Blair (11-12, 5-5) were all tied for third place and first had a coin flip in which Titans Athletic Director Andrew Gayl spun heads, while his counterparts Saul Rico of Blair and John Van De Veere of Temple City flipped tails.
The odd coin out gave San Marino a bye as Blair and Temple City played an elimination half of basketball that the Vikings won, 27-24, thanks to 12 points from Brown, nine rebounds from Simpson and a game-winning three-pointer from Moore.
Eric Olivas led Temple City with 12 points, but the Rams did not overcome 15 turnovers.
“The kids weren’t ready to play,” said Temple City Coach Eric Chin, whose team helped force the tiebreakers by upsetting league champion South Pasadena, 53-52, on Thursday night. “Hopefully, we’ll get an at-large berth.”
http://www.pasadenasun.com/sports/pasadenasu-titans-take-third-place-20120210,0,5955842.story
Source: Andrew Campa - Pasadena Sun