Playa del Rey St. Bernard falls to Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame’s three-point barrage
Reporting from Sacramento — Reggie Morris Jr. coached NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook in high school, so the question Friday at Power Balance Pavilion before the state Division V championship game was whether the first-year coach at Playa del Rey St. Bernard had asked Westbrook for advice on how to shoot three-pointers in Sacramento’s toughest arena setting.
“No,†Morris said. “Russell Westbrook can’t even shoot in this place.â€
Little did Morris realize that his opponent, Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame, had a three-point shooting ringer in Jacari Whitfield, whose fifth three-pointer of the game, with 58 seconds left, broke a 42-42 deadlock and lifted the Pilots to a 47-44 victory over St. Bernard.
Whitfield’s five three-pointers tied the Division V record for most in a championship game. St. Bernard had a chance to tie the score after a missed free throw by Whitfield with 1.7 seconds left, but Brandon Randolph’s 55-footer went off the rim at the buzzer.
There were five lead changes in the fourth quarter. St. Bernard (26-9), which was 4-23 last season and made dramatic improvement under Morris, received 14 points from Randolph, a sophomore, plus 10 points and 10 rebounds from senior Thurman Thomas.
“If I had told anybody at the beginning of the year we’d be in the state championship, I would have got laughed at,†Morris said. “For us to get this far, I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish. It really stings because it was not a game we could not have won. We felt we were right there and didn’t take advantage of opportunities.â€
Heartbreaker for Fontana Summit
Fontana Summit was in position to pull off the upset in the Division II final. The Skyhawks, down by a point, set up an out-of-bounds play with 18 seconds left. But Dorian Cason’s pass sailed over Montigo Alford’s head, and San Jose Archbishop Mitty’s Brandon White scored on an uncontested layup. Mitty (32-2) won, 53-50. “It was kind of an out-of-body experience to see it go over his head,†said Mitty’s Aaron Gordon, who scored 17 and had 21 rebounds.
Summit (28-8) rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit behind Cason, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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