RIVERSIDE – How stacked is the CIF Southern Section’s basketball Open playoff division?
It’s so deep in quality teams that two squads that came into Saturday night’s semifinals at Cal Baptist University with a combined one loss will be playing for third place Tuesday night.
That Etiwanda at Bishop Montgomery contest came about as a result of Saturday night victories by No.5 seed Sierra Canyon over unbeaten- and top-seed Bishop Montgomery (77-74 in double overtime) and No. 3 Mater Dei over once-beaten and No. 2 seed Etiwanda (76-66).
The Monarchs (22-6) will take on Sierra Canyon (23-3) Friday night in Long Beach State’s Pyramid for the division championship and No. 1 seed in the State Southern Open Regional tournament that begins on March 10.
Senior point guard Spencer Freedman hit 13 of 14 free throws in the final quarter (finishing with 22 points and five assists) to secure Mater Dei’s second consecutive appearance in the Open final. The Monarchs were beaten by Bishop Montgomery at year ago in both the sectional and regional titles.
Mater Dei also got a superb effort from 6-foot-9 Michael Wang, who scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to go with eight assists before picking up his fifth and disqualifying foul via a double-technical call with 1:54 remaining and his team up, 64-58.
The Eagles (28-2) held a four-point edge two minutes into the third quarter but Mater Dei went ahead to stay, at 44-41, with 3:02 to go in the quarter by way of a Wang 3 that was set up by a pass from Reagan Lundeen.
As impressive as the Monarchs were in knocking off a team that hadn’t lost since Dec. 2, the second game was mildly anti-climatic (for everyone but players, coaches and fans of Mater Dei, of course) after the dynamics of the opening game of the double-header.
Sierra Canyon, which held a seven-point advantage late before losing to Bishop Montgomery (65-62) on Jan. 5 during the Take Flight Challenge at Cerritos College, held a 12-point advantage at intermission Saturday night.
But the Trailblazers, in large part because of seven turnovers, were down three points going into the fourth quarter.
And yet – via the two four-minute OTs – there were still 16 minutes of playing time remaining.
Sierra Canyon earned the first OT via a final possession that almost improbably worked to perfection.
With his team trailing by three points and 4.2 seconds to go, Cassius Stanley launched an 80-foot inbound pass that teammate Duane Washington (PICTURED) was able to out-jump the Knights’ Josh Vazquez for inside the key.
With Vazquez stumbling to the floor, Washington calmly dribbled to the right wing, just behind the arc, and launched and released a jumper before Vazquez get close to challenge the shot or even foul him intentionally.
In the first overtime Kenyon Martin Jr. took a pass from Scotty Pippen Jr and converted a layup with a second to play to earn the what proved to be the final four minutes.
Gianni Hunt hit a 3 with three minutes to go to put the Knights up with the first points of the quarter – but the shot proved to be the last points for the defending champions.
Stanley got a steal and dunk to put Sierra Canyon within a point and, after a David Singleton turnover, Martin (18 points and 21 rebounds) followed in Pippen’s miss with a minute to go for a 75-74 advantage.
A Singleton 3-point attempt dipped in and out and Sierra Canyon snagged the rebound with 35 seconds to go.
With Bishop Montgomery Coach Doug Mitchell pleading with his players to foul – and the Knights not doing it – Washington slipped into the lane for a victory-cinching layup in the final three seconds.
Washington, a transfer from Michigan who signed with Ohio State in November, had 20 points and seven assists.
Stanley added 18 points, six rebounds and five assists while Hunt led the Knights with 26 points
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