Edgar Melik-Stepanyan
Its postseason run was suspenseful and memorable, but it had to end
sometime, and it did Tuesday night.
The Flintridge Prep boys' basketball team had its unforgettable
season come to an end with a 47-45 setback to host San Diego Horizon
in a Southern California Regional first-round game in the Division
IV state tournament.
Trailing by two points with 20 seconds to play, the Rebels set up
a play during a timeout, but senior Ramses Barden's off-balanced
20-footer missed as time expired.
"It might not have been one of our best efforts of the year,"
Flintridge Prep assistant coach Matt Flentie said. "We tightened
things up in the second half. We would make a couple of shots in a
row to get back in it, but we couldn't control the game.
"[The players] wanted to keep playing. They are disappointed that
it's finally over. They knew it was a special year for us. They
wanted things to continue on. It was a game that we felt like we
could have won."
Fourth-seeded Horizon (19-11) -- which has won two straight state
titles and three consecutive San Diego Section Division IV
championships -- will travel to top-seeded Santa Maria St. Joseph in
Thursday's regional semifinal.
St. Joseph (28-3) easily handled eighth-seeded Caruthers --
located near Fresno -- 90-50 on Tuesday.
The regional final will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at Cal State
Fullerton.
The Rebels were without Coach Garrett Ohara, who is with his wife,
Susan, in China meeting their 10-month-old adopted daughter Kathryn
Grace.
Flintridge Prep -- which trailed, 26-23, at halftime -- last
appeared in the state playoffs March 9, 1989, when it fell to Bel
Air-Prep, 50-43, in the regional semifinals at Beverly Hills High.
The Crescenta Valley High boys' basketball program was the last
area team to compete in the state playoffs. It lost, 85-54, to
nationally ranked Santa Ana Mater Dei in the first round in Division
I.
Barden tallied 10 points, Mike Simon had nine points, Tim Mercer
and Darin Nakauchi contributed eight points each, and Andrew Beck
added seven points for the Rebels, who were bidding to become the
first local boys' team to advance in the state playoffs since La
Canada posted a 58-36 victory against La Jolla High in the opening
round of the Division III state tournament in 1992.
