Erik Boal
POMONA -- The St. Francis High boys' basketball team experienced
the peaks and valleys of the CIF Southern Section playoffs in its
Division IIIAA opener against Pomona High.
Unfortunately for the Golden Knights, the valleys of cold shooting
from the field outlasted the peaks of tough defense, and St. Francis
fell, 53-51, Wednesday night on the road.
Coach John Jordan's squad, which has relied heavily on the three-point
shot to win games this season, suffered through a two-of-17 shooting
performance in the fourth quarter -- including one of 12 from behind the
arc -- and still had a shot to win the game.
Brett Mitchell's 27-footer as time expired hit both the rim and the
backboard, but did not fall, ending the Golden Knights' season at 14-13
overall.
"We just couldn't convert," Jordan said. "We got some really good
looks and in the second half we played super defense. I couldn't be
happier with the effort, the shots just didn't fall."
St. Francis also fell on tough times in the second quarter, as it shot
two of 12 from the field and went six-plus minutes without a field goal.
Jeff Brown stopped an 11-0 Pomona run with a layup at 1:55 to bring
the Golden Knights to within 26-19. Michael Jenkins scored the only other
St. Francis field goal on a three-pointer at the buzzer as it trailed,
33-24, at halftime.
Brown led the Golden Knights with 19 points in his final high school
game and Jenkins added 14, including four three-pointers.
Jordan's squad played inspired basketball in the third quarter,
sparked by relentless full-court pressure and some timely three-pointers,
and found itself tied at 42 with 50 seconds remaining.
"Our press bothered them and toward the end I thought we were in great
shape," Jordan said of his team, which forced 28 Pomona turnovers.
"(Pomona) looked tired down the stretch, but they still had some big
bodies inside. We played to our strength and went with four guards and as
a result they got some key rebounds late in the game."
Mitchell's layup with 1:34 remaining was St. Francis' first basket of
the fourth quarter, and following a free throw to complete the
three-point play, the Golden Knights only trailed, 50-48.
Pomona (18-7) hit consecutive front ends of one-and-one free-throw
situations to increase the lead to four, but it was Mitchell again who
provided late heroics for St. Francis with a three-pointer to cut the
deficit to 52-51 with 50 seconds left.
Adam Vidaurrazaga's steal with 32 seconds remaining gave Jordan's
squad a chance to play for the win, but a turnover on an inbounds play 20
seconds later forced the Golden Knights to foul and Corey Mitchell made
one of two free throws to increase the Red Devils' lead to two.
Antoine Russ led Pomona with 19 points and 14 rebounds as the Red
Devils held a 40-25 rebounding advantage.
Seniors Michael John and Aaron Sims each tallied two points and
combined for nine rebounds in their final games for the Golden Knights.
St. Francis 17 7 18 9 -- 51
Pomona 15 18 11 9 -- 53
St. Francis -- J. Brown 19, Jenkins 14, B. Mitchell 6, Gonzalez 2,
Sims 2, Vidaurrazaga 6, John 2.
* Three-pointers: Jenkins 4, Brown 2, Vidaurrazaga 2, Mitchell.
Pomona -- Russ 19 and 14 rebounds, L. Brown 9, Smith 8, Howard 8,
Holdon 1, Mukti 1, C. Mitchell 5, Madison 2.
* Three-pointers: Howard.
