Redondo Makes Shots It Needed

Redondo Union swingman Wendell White doesn’t have the option of shooting three-point baskets whenever he wants. It only seems that way.

White missed his first seven three-point attempts Friday night against Santa Margarita, but made the one the third-seeded Sea Hawks needed to topple the second-seeded Eagles, 56-53, in a Southern Section Division II-A boys’ basketball semifinal at Concordia University in Irvine.

“I didn’t think I was going to make one,” said White, whose only three-pointer of the game gave Redondo a 54-51 lead with just over two minutes to play.

Brandon Rohe made a driving basket to pull the Eagles (23-5) to within a point, and Santa Margarita looked as if it would get a chance to win with a final shot after White missed another three-point attempt.

Rohe, who finished with 22 points, drove into the lane and pulled up for a shot, which bounced off the rim. White, who grabbed the rebound and was fouled with six seconds, made the first free throw and missed the second, but pulled down the rebound. He drew another foul with 0.8 seconds left and again made one of two shots to give Redondo a three-point cushion.

Sea Hawk guard Eddie Topps, a defensive back on the football team, intercepted Santa Margarita’s inbounds pass.

Redondo (22-6) will try to win its second consecutive section title when it faces top-seeded Riverside King (27-3) on March 2 at the Arrowhead Pond.

The Sea Hawks advanced thanks in part to Keith Ellison, who scored 17 of his game-high 28 points in the game’s first 10 minutes. Redondo took a 17-point lead early in the second quarter.

Determined not to collapse, Santa Margarita steadily chipped away at the deficit until it took its first lead since the opening possession on Rohe’s two free throws with 3:12 to play. The Eagles then tied the score, 51-51, on Rohe’s turnaround jumper about a minute later.

“We were in position to win,” Santa Margarita Coach Jerry DeBusk said. “We couldn’t make the basket or the free throw that would give us a cushion.”

The Eagles have lost three consecutive semifinal games to Bay League teams; Inglewood ended Santa Margarita’s season the last two playoffs.

The way White was shooting for much of the game, though, it looked as if the Eagles might be bound for the Pond. White finished with 11 points after making only four of 17 shots from the field, including one of 10 from three-point range.

“I wasn’t thinking, to be honest,” White said. “I should have driven to the basket.”