div4AA308

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Southern Section Playoffs: Division IV-AA
St. Joe's Defeats Calvary Chapel 75-76 in OT For Title--(March 8, 1998)

We were unable to make it to this game, principally because we couldn't be in two places at once, and since we were at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on Friday night, something had to give. But we've still managed to provide you with three perspectives on this game. The first is from our friend George Groce, an ardent supporter of the St. Joe's squad, and the others are from the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times. And to all the legal beagles from the two papers. Remember these words: "Fair Use". Please. We don't make a dime off of this. It's for educational purposes. We would have asked you guys for permission to reprint (we're sure you would have agreed :-), but you weren't home when we called today.). Seriously. Visit the Times and the Register often, spend the quarters to buy the papers, and support their great staff writers. They need the money.

So first, here's what George sent via e-mail:

"Here is some scoop on last Knights game (pun intended). Sorry it is a little tardy but we didn't get home until darn near three AM after the drive back from Irvine.

Knights get it right!

Time stood still in the BrenCenter at UC-Irvine Friday night. Calvary Chapel High star Joe Ortiz was suspended in midair, St. Joseph's Matt Cova and Mike Hoffman in his way, and he lofted the potential game-winning shot with one second left in regulation.

Clank-clank, bounce and out. Ortiz missed and the Knights went on to win in Overtime. After four minutes of overtime play the Knights all celebrated with Coach Ed Torres at mid court after a 75-67 victory over the Eagles from Santa Ana in the CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA championship game before 2778 fans.

Once Ortiz missed that shot-after he scored 15 of his game-high 36 points in the fourth quarter-game MVP Matt Cova of the Knights got that look in his eye. He wasn't going to be shown up by anybody.

On the overtime tipoff, Cova grabbed the ball, drove full speed under the basket and caused Calvary Chapel's top defender - Jake Fabbozi - to commit his fifth foul. Cova made both free throws, the Knights led 65-63 and never trailed again. On the next possession, Cova found Brett Krausse on he baseline for an easy shot. One minute later, Cova drove under the basket for a lay-up to make it 71-65 with 1 minute 2 seconds left in the game.

Junior Jason Williams added 14 rebounds and 8 points to his usually tenacious defense. Senior Guard Mike Hoffman scored 14. The Knights will host a regional tournament game Tuesday night in the gym at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria.

St. Joseph 75, Calvary Chapel 67

1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT

St. Joseph 10 26 14 13 12

Calvary 17 9 17 20 4

SJ: Cova 27, Hoffman 14, Williams 8, Merlo 6, Draper 6, Krausse 12, Hoover 2
Calvary: Ortiz 36, Young 20, Fabozzi 6, Dinnie 3, Baker 2
3 point field goals: SJ (2) - Cova 2, Calvary (12) Ortiz 5, Young 5, Fabozzi 2.
Fouled out - St. Joseph - none, Calvary - Fabozzi

Go Knights!! George Groce

Here's the Orange County Register's take on the game:

Last season's loss in the finals was bad enough. Calvary Chapel's Joe Ortiz found this season's championship game defeat — a 75-67 overtime loss Friday night to St. Joseph of Santa Maria — even more painful.

"This one hurts more," Ortiz said after the CIF-Southern Section Division IV-AA title game at the Bren Center. "When we played Crossroads last year, we really were the underdogs. This time, we felt like we were expected to win."

The Eagles almost did.

Ortiz's three-pointer with 46 seconds remaining put Calvary Chapel on top, 63-61. The Eagles' chances looked even better when, with 32.7 seconds left, St. Joseph's Matt Cova missed his first free throw. Those chances appeared exceptional when Cova missed the second free throw. But the Knights' Mike Hoffman squeezed between two Eagles to grab the rebound and banked it in to tie it, 63-63. Ortiz missed a hanging, double-pump 14-footer at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.

Cova made two free throws and the Knights' Brett Krause scored on a short jumper in the first minute of overtime to give them a 67-63. lead. Ortiz trimmed the Eagles' deficit to two points on a steal and layup, but they never got closer. Calvary Chapel was outscored in the period, 12-4. Both teams will play in the CIF Southern California Regionals, which begin with first-round games Tuesday, continue with the semifinals Thursday and conclude with the regional finals next Saturday. Regional champions advance to the CIF State Championships, March 20-21, in Sacramento.

Of the Eagles' 67 points, 36 came from three-pointers. But their accuracy from behind the arc was lacking; they made just 12 of 49. "We did not want to shoot that many threes," Calvary Chapel coach Craig Falconer said. "I think we lost confidence in our inside game and took too many threes.

"But I'm more disappointed by our defense. We flat out couldn't defend them."

St. Joseph, which finished in second place in the Los Padres League, shot 54.7 percent from the floor. Calvary Chapel's made 30 percent of its shots. The loss ended a 13-game winning streak for Calvary Chapel (23-7). Calvary Chapel lost in the IV-A championship game at the Bren Center last year to Crossroads of Santa Monica, whose star player was UCLA guard Baron Davis. Ortiz led all scorers 33 points. The Eagles' Brett Young added 23, despite struggling with his accuracy. He made just 2 of 16 shots in the first half, including 1 for 10 on three pointers, before straightening himself out in the second half in which he was 5 for 12 from behind the arc.

"I just wasn't following through on my shot," Young said. "One of our other players told me at half-time that's what I was doing wrong." Cova led St. Joseph with 27 points.

And finally, this perspective is from from the LA Times from Saturday:

Calvary Chapel filled the air at the UC Irvine Bren Center Friday night with three-point shots. The Eagles thrived and dived with them in their 75-67 overtime loss to Santa Maria St. Joseph in the Southern Section Division IV-AA boys' basketball final.

They used three-pointers to take a quick 11-point lead in the first quarter, then fell behind by as many as 14 points eight minutes later when the shots wouldn't fall. They climbed back into the game in the fourth quarter on the strength of numerous NBA-style baskets by forward Brett Young and guard Joe Ortiz, but couldn't get their final five attempts to drop in the last 30 seconds.

It was the second consecutive season in which Calvary Chapel (21-8) got into a sectional final and went cold, but this loss was devastating, Ortiz said. Last season the Eagles, who are 0-6 at the Bren Center, fell to heavily favored Santa Monica Crossroads in both Southern Section and Southern Regional finals. "This hurts a lot more," said Ortiz, who finished with 33 points, eight rebounds and six assists. "Last year we were the underdog. This time we really expected to win."

Ortiz made four of 15 three-pointers. Young made six of 22 and had 23 points. They don't keep records on such things, but the Eagles' 49 three-point shots had to set some kind of mark for a playoff final. In all, Calvary Chapel made 24 of 80 field goals, 12 of those three-pointers.

Ortiz had the ball in his hands almost all of the final 30 seconds of regulation and had a chance to win the game. His driving, off-balance eight-foot jumper hit the rim with less than a second remaining and did not drop.

A rejuvenated St. Joseph (23-7)--which got a rebound and the game-tying basket from Mike Hoffman with 32 seconds left--scored the first four points in overtime and never looked back. "I didn't want us to shoot that many threes," Falconer said. "Maybe we lost confidence in our inside game and thought we had to shoot them. They were smart, they went to a zone defense. They couldn't stay with us in man and we tried to shoot over it." Calvary Chapel started strong with Ortiz scoring 11 of their first 15 points.

A three-pointer by Ortiz made it 20-10 in favor of Calvary Chapel, but Young picked up his third foul with 6 minutes 14 seconds left and Falconer moved Ortiz back to the point and pushed Young out to the left wing.

Meanwhile, Calvary's long-bomb attack was falling short and three starters--Young, guard Jake Fabozzi and forward Tim Baker--had three fouls each. Calvary Chapel scored just nine points in the second quarter.

St. Joseph outscored the Eagles 18-2 to close the half. It didn't get any better as the third quarter got underway. The Eagles came out firing, but missed their first two three-pointers and then committed a turnover, while the Knights were more patient and got a pair of baskets for a 40-26 lead.

Guard Pat Dinnie got the team's first three-pointer of the quarter with 6:01 left and Calvary Chapel managed a 15-8 run thanks to three three-pointers by Young. They trailed, 48-43 with 1:05 left in the quarter.

The Knights upped the lead to 56-44, but then Calvary Chapel found its touch. Over the next four minutes the Eagles went on a 13-0 run for a 57-56 lead and later, following a three-pointer by Ortiz, took a 63-61 lead with 45 seconds to go.

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT
St. Joseph	10	26	14	13	12
Calvary	17	9	17	20	4