After watching their team shoot 11 free throws to 39 for the other team, the crowd walking out of Redondo’s gym Tuesday night was very unhappy.
“Those damn refs did a horrible job,” one blond-haired woman wearing a red Sea Hawks jacket said to another blond-haired woman wearing a similar jacket. “I’ve seen better officiating in youth league games.”
Based purely on the lop-sided numbers of foul shots attempted, one could understand their frustration and resentment after Sierra Canyon topped Redondo 74-70 in a quarterfinal game in the Open Division of the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
But Redondo coach Reggie Morris didn’t agree. He refused to blame the refs for the free throw disparity, or the nail-biting loss that went down to the final seconds when Redondo missed key foul shots and Sierra Canyon made theirs.
“That’s just the way Sierra Canyon plays,” Morris said after addressing his team in the loser’s locker room. “They drove the ball hard to the basket all night and got most of the calls. We got some charges called on them, but not enough.”
For four years now, Redondo’s magic formula – which includes one state championship and three deep playoff runs – could be summed up as no stars, just talent and teamwork.
But the raw truth is that near the end Tuesday night, when Redondo had carved out a 59-53 lead with six minutes to go, that lack of a true star – where have you gone, Billy Preston? – was the difference between winning and losing.
Sierra Canyon, which was the higher seeded team but still had to travel all the way from Chatsworth to Redondo because it lost a coin flip, had two stars that came through in the end while Redondo’s best player missed a foul shot that could have kept the game tied.
Cody Riley, a 6-foot-9, 240 pound junior center who said he is leaning toward attending UCLA after next season, was the focal point of Sierra Canyon’s offense in those last six minutes. And when the ball wasn’t going inside to Riley, Remy Martin, a 6-foot junior guard, was drilling threes and using his lightning quickness to get to the hoop, draw fouls and sink foul shot after foul shot.
Meanwhile 6-foot-2 guard Leland Green, Redondo’s best player, missed a critical free throw that could have tied the game at 69-69 with 28 seconds left and the Sea Hawks never led after that. Redondo was forced to foul repeatedly, and Sierra Canyon made five of six foul shots to seal the victory.
Green, who finished with 13 points, swished two foul shots with 10 seconds left, but it was too little too late.
Despite the loss, Sea Hawk fans were treated to a night of high caliber high school basketball at its very finest. Both teams were ranked in the top ten in the country and showed why they were ranked so high right from the opening tap, racing up and down the court so fast some spectators complained of whiplash.
Green got the Sea Hawks off to a flying start by drilling a three and then driving to the hoop where he threw a beautiful behind-the-back pass to shooting guard Morgan Means for an easy layup. Suddenly Redondo was up 5-0 and the crowd was standing on its feet cheering the undersized Hawks.
But Sierra Canyon soon had Riley dominating inside – 6-foot-5 Cameron Williams and 6-foot-8 Wesley Gilbert took turns guarding him and sometimes double-teamed him – while Martin controlled the ball and got to the hoop repeatedly, usually drawing a foul or completing a layup.
Redondo received an emotional boost when reserve guard Aaron Lapeyrollerie drilled a three-pointer to beat the first quarter buzzer, lifting the Sea Hawks to a 23-18 lead going into the second.
But Sierra Canyon dominated the second quarter and led 33-31 at halftime. The smallest Redondo player with the biggest heart, 5-foot-2 Elijah Nesbit, and the smooth shooting Means, who finished with 25 points, led the way for the Sea Hawks in the second half. Nesbit drew several charges when he held his ground against much bigger players, including one David-vs-Goliath confrontation with Riley when Riley was going coast-to-coast with a stolen ball and somehow Nesbit got in front of him and absorbed a tremendous blow but got the call and bounced right back up to show he was all right.
But in the end the better, more talented and more aggressive team pulled out the victory despite all the complaining about the officiating. “Sierra Canyon is a very talented team that is capable of winning the Open Division,” Morris said.
The loss, however, does not mean the end of Redondo’s season. They play Compton at Compton Friday night, and will be chosen for the state tournament no matter how they do over the next two weeks.
“These are pointless, meaningless games for the next two weeks,” Morris said.
And Morris responded to rumors that he may be leaving Redondo, which has imposed a strict policy of no more out-of-district permits for athletes transferring in to the high school.
“I’ve got nowhere else to go,” Morris said. “This is my home. I love it here.”
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