Just before Redondo’s Morgan Means stepped to the foul line for two last-second foul shots that could tie or win Tuesday night’s Division 1 regional semifinal playoff game against Narbonne, Sea Hawk Athletic Director Andy Saltzman rushed out with a mop to remove the sweat left when Means was smashed to the floor while driving hard to the basket.
“I just wanted to make sure it was dry,” Saltsman explained. “Just doing my job.”
And the 6-foot-2 Means did his job too: Redondo’s best shooter ignored a crescendo of noise coming from both sides of the gym and calmly sank one and then another foul shot to give his team a 63-62 lead with 1.8 seconds left. Narbonne had no choice but to inbound the ball and fling a length-of-the-court shot that had no chance.
Even before the fall fell harmlessly to the floor the Sea Hawk players exploded off the bench and onto the court, where they met a tidal wave of Redondo fans in one great big ever-growing dogpile that went on for a couple of minutes while people danced and screamed and hugged all around them.
“That state championship game we won was pretty awesome,” Saltsman said. “But this was just as awesome.”
Even Redondo coach Reggie Morris, known for his calm and cool demeanor, was spotting running around and hugging friends and family. “We’re very fortunate that we get to keep playing,” he said.
The Sea Hawk players and fans had plenty of reason to party like it was 1999: After leading by 11 points mid-way through the second quarter, Redondo had fallen behind by 11 points late in the third quarter and started trying so hard that, even as they mounted a refuse-to-lose comeback, they committed a series of unforced errors that seemed to spell doom for their hopes of a second state championship to match the one their five seniors helped win three years ago.
The comeback started when Narbonne, just as quick and athletic as Redondo, forced a turnover but then fumbled the ball right back. After a mad scramble for the ball, slick point guard Elijah Nesbit found 6-foot-1 guard Ryse Williams in the right corner, where he nailed a trifecta with three guys lunging at him.
After forcing another turnover, Nesbit threw up a buzzer-beating corner three that found nothing but nylon and suddenly the Gauchos’ lead was down to 55-50 starting the fourth.
The momentum stalled, however, when 6-foot-8 center Wesley Gilbert brazenly elbowed Psalm Madukor, who sank two foul shots to pump the lead back to 57-50.
With six minutes left Redondo’s most athletic player, 6-foot-3 guard Leland Green, stepped in front of a weak pass, stole the ball and flew in for a layup that cut it to 57-52. After Nesbit air-balled a trifecta, Cameron Williams – who despite several mistakes still made key play after key play all night – banked in a put-back to cut it to 57-56 and send the home crowd into a frenzy. Madukor muscled up a put-back for a 59-56 lead, but the 5-foot-2 Nesbit drove into the trees, got fouled, and hit two foul shots to again cut it to one at 59-58.
Cameron Williams missed two foul shots that could have given Redondo the lead. And when Narbonne cleanly broke Redondo’s signature all-court press for the first and only time all night, the lead was back to 3 at 61-58. When Ryse Williams was called for a questionable double dribble with two minutes left – a call that might not have been made if the Narbonne side of the gym hadn’t loudly demanded it – things looked bleak for the Sea Hawks.
But Nesbit, playing with the heart of a giant, raced down the court and stuck a cold-blooded trifecta that tied the score at 61-61 and set off the first of several verbal explosions from the home team fans. Nesbit was then called for a blocking foul on D’mauria Jones that easily could have been called a charge, but Jones sank only one of two foul shots and Narbonne was clinging to a 62-61 lead with 30 seconds left.
Given one last chance to win the game Morris called a play that got the ball to his best player, Green, right in front of the Redondo bench. But as Green, who is better attacking the basket than shooting outside jumpers, looked for an opening he dribbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds. The home crowd cried out in anguish and frustration at yet another unforced setback. They just couldn’t seem to get over the hump.
Green responded like a true champion, drawing a hotly disputed charge at the other end and giving the Hawks yet another last chance with 21 seconds left. Morris called a timeout with 13 seconds left and drew up a play that got the ball to his best shooter, Means. But Means couldn’t get his favorite 15 foot jumper off so he drove into the lane where he was bottled up and Redondo was forced to call another timeout with 5.2 seconds left.
With both sides of the gym screaming their lungs out at this third last chance, Means again got the ball, again did not see an opening for his sweet jumper and again chose to drive into the lane. This time he was hammered high and low – Narbonne has four varsity football players on their roster – and smashed to the court, where he held his face and writhed on the ground.
“I don’t really have any complaint about the call,” said Narbonne coach Anthony Hilliard a few minutes after the game. “Morgan gave it the Reggie Miller treatment and sold it pretty good, but it did look like he got hit in the face.”
That set the stage for AD Saltsman’s mop-up job, Mean’s two cool foul shots under enormous pressure, and a Sea Hawk celebration that lasted long into the night.
This was a night when all that is good about high school sports was on display: two talented and equal teams giving it their all, playing their hearts out with collision after collision that left players scattered on the floor, many charge-or-block tough calls that could have gone either way, and ultimately good sportsmanship in the hallway by the Narbonne team after a heart-breaking loss.
“Great job, Redondo,” Gaucho players said repeatedly as they mingled, hugged and shook hands. “Great game, and good luck in the next round.”
The gritty, gutty Nesbit led the Hawks with 16 hard-earned points, followed by Ryse Williams and Cameron Williams both with 11 and Green and Means both with 9. Considering the one point win, an overlooked but vital contribution was made by Duncan Lomenzo-Torres, a 6-foot guard who usually plays only a few minutes a game to help keep the Hawks defensive pressure going full speed. But in this game he had a first quarter scoring spurt of a power drive, a tough stick back and two foul shots for a total of six quick points. He never got back in the game but kept on cheering for his teammates right to the explosive end.
After three straight home wins, Redondo now leaves the cozy confines of the Sea Hawk Pavilion to venture out into the big bad world for the SoCal regional final game at the Pyramid in Long Beach Saturday afternoon. They will face Crespi, who beat them by 18 points in the Consolation Final of the Open Division two weeks ago, for the right to play in the state D1 final in Sacramento.
Fans can only hope and pray that Saturday’s game is half as exciting and entertaining as this one was.
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