Redondo and Poly advance to 63rd Pac Shores finale

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REDONDO BEACH, Ca. – They may not have been the most esthetically pleasing of basketball games.

But, ultimately, the 63^rd Dijon Thompson Pac Shores Tournament’s top two seeds – the host Redondo Sea Hawks and the Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits – won their semifinals Friday evening to advance to Saturday afternoon’s 3:30 championship game.

The Jackrabbits of Coach Shelton Diggs were in front of L.A. Westchester, 32-20, at intermission before the City power Comets made things interesting.

The got to within four points (51-47) in the fourth quarter before the Jackrabbits made just enough plays – at both ends of the floor – and hit just enough free throws to hold on for a 60-55 victory.

The Jackrabbits – who won their first two games of the event by margins of 29 and 22 points, respectively – got their usual standout play from guards K.J. Feagins and Drew Buggs and post Jordan Dallas.

The Comets got another strong effort by senior point guard Ellis Salahuddin.

In the second semifinal the hosts trailed by four points going into the fourth quarter after the Braves’ Rodney Henderson was fouled in the left corning while nailing a 3-pointer and converting the ensuing free throw.

Sophomore forward Billy Preston had a game-high 23 points for Redondo while junior forward Cameron Williams added 12. They scored all 15 of their team’s fourth-quarter points.

Junior forward Vance Jackson scored 15 points for the Braves – 12 of those in the first half. He was saddled with foul problems, picking up his third 18 seconds into the third quarter and his fourth with 1:59 to go in the stanza. Each of the two was the result of hooking calls when he had the ball and was trying to drive. Henderson led the team with 18 points – 15 of those via shots from behind the arc.

Preston, who played for the first month of last season as a freshman at SJB before leaving the school, put the Sea Hawks in front to stay when his two free throws put his team up, 55-54, with 2:05 to go.

Williams scored in a scramble along the baseline to pad the lead to three points with 1:14 remaining.

Leland Green missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw opportunity for Redondo with 27 seconds to go and, after a timeout, Jackson got a clean look at a 3 attempt from out top but missed and Green grabbed the rebound.

After a timeout Preston was fouled and hit the first of two free-throw attempts for a four-point edge. Jordan Bell (who finished with 14 points) converted on a layup to get his team to within two points with four-tenths of a second on the clock. Redondo inbounded the ball cleanly and the horn sounded.

Despite having to play an extended period of the second half with Jackson on the bench, the Braves also hurt their cause with 20 turnovers.

Saturday schedule: (auxiliary gym) 15^th place, 9 a.m., Hart vs. Mayfair; 13^th place, 10:30, Narbonne vs. Lawndale; 7^th pace, noon, Compton vs. Inglewood; 5^th place, 1:30 p.m., Calabasas vs. Serra; (main gym) consolation runner-up, 11 a.m., Campbell Hall vs. Peninsula; consolation championship, 12:30 p.m., Santa Monica vs. Calabasas; third-place, 2, L.A. Westchester vs. Bellflower St. John Bosco; championship, 3:30, Redondo vs. Long Beach Poly.