Boys’ Basketball: San Bernardino school holds on against Lightning
GARDEN GROVE — Before the Sage Hill School boys’ basketball game at the Spartan Classic on Thursday, players, coaches and fans observed a moment of silence. Sage Hill’s opponent was Aquinas, which is from San Bernardino, where the day before a mass shooting took place.
The Inland Regional Center, where 14 people died and 21 were injured, is only 6½ miles away from Aquinas’ campus. Aquinas Coach Dave Johnson said the school went into lockdown mode, and around 2 p.m., school officials allowed the basketball team to travel to Garden Grove to compete in the tournament at Orangewood Academy on Wednesday.
“I know a lot of things were on our mind when we got [to the tournament],” Johnson said. “We [were] in lockdown for about two hours. [School officials] decided to let us go and come down [to the tournament]. I think it was good for us to get away, get our minds off [what happened].”
Johnson said his players have come closer together since Wednesday’s tragic event, and for the second time in as many days, his Falcons won.
Aquinas held on for a 39-37 win against the Lightning, advancing to the third-place game. The Falcons won’t play again until Saturday.
During the last two days, Johnson said the tournament has treated his team exceptionally well.
“I really appreciate that because I think we needed it,” Johnson said of the support. “[Wednesday] was definitely a terrible thing that happened. We’ve been talking about it. We just say we got to pray for the victims, and hopefully, you know, good things come out of it, and you know it’s hard to say that.”
For 32 minutes, the Falcons were able to focus on a game. Marcus Felder led the way with a game-high 18 points, to go with five rebounds and five steals, and Terron Parker had 10 points and six rebounds.
Felder’s final steal sealed it for Aquinas (2-1), keeping the Lightning winless in the tournament. The guard intercepted a Sage Hill pass near midcourt in the waning seconds.
For the second time during the tournament, Sage Hill (1-3) lost a close one. Coach Jeff Beeler’s team dropped Tuesday’s opener to host Orangewood, 53-50.
Sage Hill was involved in another tight one after it erased a 10-point deficit in the third quarter. Dominic Sadeghi rallied the Lightning with a three-point play with about 3½ minutes left in the third. He sparked a 9-4 run, getting the Lightning within, 33-28, at the end of the third.
Sadeghi couldn’t help Sage Hill the rest of the way. Beeler said the junior left the game with a possible concussion, leaving Sage Hill without another guard. Beeler said Greg Park hasn’t played in a game this season because of a knee injury.
With Sadeghi out, Chance Kuehnel, who led Sage Hill with 11 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and three steals, turned it on right away in the fourth quarter.
Eighty-four seconds into the fourth Kuehnel made it a one-point game. The senior made two straight shots in the paint and the Lightning trailed, 33-32.
Aquinas went back up by five, and it wasn’t until with 1:15 left to play that Sage Hill scored again. Alex Toubia snapped the Lightning scoreless streak with a layup. Seventeen seconds later, Felder converted one of two free throws, giving the Falcons a 39-34 lead.
Kuehnel helped the Lightning trim the lead, first with a free throw with 45 seconds to go. Then a steal and pass by Kuehnel led to Max Nanula’s transition layup, and Sage Hill was down, 39-37, with 19 seconds remaining.
Right after Aquinas inbounded the ball, Brett Super came up with a quick steal for the Lightning. He took a three-pointer and missed, and Super immediately fouled Randall Nee, sending him to the free-throw line with 3.6 seconds left.
“He got an open look for a three,” Beeler said. “It was an open look, so you can’t pass up an open look, whether it’s a two or a three. He was just off.”
Sage Hill also misfired at the charity stripe. Sage Hill only made seven of 17 free throws.
“When you lose a game by two points and you miss that many free throws, that stings a little bit,” said Beeler, whose team will try to avoid finishing last in the eight-team tournament on Friday, when it plays Los Angeles Adventist in the seventh-place game at 3 p.m.
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Spartan Classic
Pool play
Aquinas 39, Sage Hill 37
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Sage Hill 8 – 8 – 12 – 9 — 37
Aquinas 13 – 12 – 8 – 6 — 39
SH – Kuehnel 11, Nanula 8, Sadeghi 5, Toubia 5, King 5, M. Liu 2, Biviji 1 .
3-pt. goals – Nanula 2.
Fouled out – King.
Technicals – None.
A – Felder 18, Parker 10, Addison 5, Gonzales 4, Kama 2.
3-pt. goals – Felder 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
