3-A Boys : Serra Feels the Pressure, Then Applies It to Win

SAN DIEGO —  For three quarters, Serra High School’s boys’ basketball team was feeling the pressure in Friday night’s 3-A semifinal playoff game against Sweetwater.

In the final period, however, the No. 4-ranked Conquistadors turned the tables and applied the pressure. They also turned a close game into a rout.

Trailing, 41-38, after three quarters, Serra played perhaps its best eight minutes of the season, outscoring Sweetwater, 29-12. The result was a 67-53 Serra win before a full house at Mira Mesa High School and a victory that earned the Conquistadors a berth in next Saurday’s championship game at the Sports Arena against the winner of tonight’s Poway-El Capitan game.

In the final quarter, Serra hit 7 of 14 shots from the floor. Not exceptional, but certainly better than the 14 of 41 they hit in the first three periods. They also made 15 free throws in that final period.

But the key was the Conquistadors’ defense. Their full-court press finally took its toll, forcing six Sweetwater turnovers. That, and the fact that the Red Devils made just 3 of 16 shots, made Serra’s job easy.

“We were nervous,” Serra’s Steve Smith admitted. “All we heard at school all day was how good they (Sweetwater) were and what a tough game it would be. But once we hit a couple shots in the fourth quarter, everything came together. That quarter was as good as we’ve played all season.”

Smith’s effort was largely responsible for Serra’s success. The 6-foot 1-inch forward scored 19 points and had a game-high 15 rebounds. Anthony Moore scored 23 points and Michael Karp had 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Down, 43-41, with 7:31 left, the Conquistadors scored 10 straight points to take a 51-43 advantage with 4:38 left.

“Good defense did it,” Serra Coach Tom Williams said after his team ran its record to 23-3. “We didn’t play very good offense in the first half, but we were only down, 27-24. We weren’t worried about our defense after that, all we had to do was get our offense going.

“I think Sweetwater got tired. Our kids knew we hadn’t played well, but they got pumped when they were only down by three after three quarters.”

Sweetwater, which ended its season at 19-7, was led by Mahlon Williams. The 6-4 junior scored a game-high 26 points and had eight rebounds. Matt Simmons scored 14 and was the only other Devil in double figures.

“Give Serra all the credit,” Sweetwater Coach David Ybarra said “We lost our composure. They kept theirs.

“I don’t know what happened. I thought we played well until the fourth quarter, but then we stopped executing. We went flat.”

The Red Devils, who trailed only twice in the first three quarters, shot a disappointing 38% (23-61) from the field. Serra didn’t shoot much better, hitting 39% (22 of 56). But the Conquistadors made 23 of 36 free throws while the foul-plagued Devils hit just 7 of 14. Sweetwater was called for 25 fouls, Serra 14.