Southern Section Prep Basketball Playoffs : Saddleback Beats Lakewood, 65-61

All but written off midway through the first quarter--when it trailed, 11-1--Saddleback High School somehow found a way to beat Lakewood in overtime, 65-61, Friday in the semifinals of the Southern Section 5-AA boys’ basketball playoffs before an overflow crowd of 3,200 at Santa Ana’s Rancho Santiago College.

A good portion of that somehow was provided by 6-foot-1 guard Craig Marshall who scored 21 points, many on attempts that ranged from farfetched to simply far.

“This game was Craig Marshall’s,” Saddleback center Malru Dottin said. “He sparked all of us. They were dropping three guys in on me and I just threw the ball out to him and let him do the job, and he did.”

Saddleback trailed at haltime, 30-23, and midway through the third quarter, 38-29. It was a spinning, reverse, two-handed Marshall layup that drew Saddleback (27-1) to within 52-50 with 2:32 left in the game.

Marshall was fouled on the play by Lakewood forward Brian Camper, who came into the game averaging 21 points a game.

Camper, who had 11 points, Friday, fouled out on the play. Marshall missed the free throw but rebounded the miss and got the ball to Dottin whose 5-foot jumper went in and out.

Lakewood (23-7) scored to go up, 54-50, with 1:28 left. But Saddleback’s Jimmy Galbert drove for a basket with 1:14 left, and Dottin made a leaning 8-footer from the left side of the key that tied the score, 54-54, which is how it remained at the end of regulation.

In overtime, Saddleback took control early. Lakewood cut the Saddleback lead to 61-59 when guard Tom Sellers made a three-pointer with 1:23 left.

Then Saddleback spread its offense, and Marshall darted in for a drive and a basket with 47 seconds left, sealing the victory.

Glendora 75, Perris 63--Senior Tracy Murray of Glendora scored 57 points to bring his season total to 1,306, breaking the state single-season scoring record of 1,259 set by Greg Goorjian of Crescenta Valley in 1977-78. In a 4-AA semifinal game at Cal Poly Pomona, Murray made 11 of 18 two-point shots, 7 of 12 three-point shots and 14 of 15 free throws. Murray also holds the state career scoring record of 2,854 points. Perris (22-6) was led by Jerry Dalton with 16 points.

Glendora (28-1) will play San Bernardino (29-0) in the title game Wednesday night at 8:15 as part of a doubleheader at the Bren Center at UC Irvine. In the first game, for the 4-A championship, Dominguez (23-4) will play Artesia (21-5), which is led by outstanding junior center Ed O’Bannon.