The Montgomery High School boys basketball team found itself in an envious position Tuesday night by hosting the Sage Creek Bobcats in a San Diego Section Division III semifinal playoff match.
The winner would advance to Saturday’s division championship game. The Aztecs had the home court advantage and executed a furious finish to excite the home fans.
But the Bobcats came out on top, 73-66, to spoil an otherwise fabulous evening for the hosts.
Sixth-seeded Montgomery finished its season 15-15. Meanwhile, 10th-seeded Sage Creek (13-17) advances to play ninth-seeded Mount Miguel (20-10) for the Division III title.
The division championship game between the Bobcats and Matadors is scheduled at 11 a.m. at the University of San Diego’s Jenny Craig Pavilion.
“At midseason I told the other coaches that Sage Creek was the team to watch out for,” Aztec head coach Ed Martin explained. “They started five seniors whereas we started three sophomores and two juniors.”
Besides senior depth, the Bobcats also had a decided height advantage on their side with half a dozen players standing six feet or taller.
Senior Dakota Miller was a giant on the court at six feet, six inches tall while classmates Teilyer Scott (6-5) and Dylan Rossi (6-3) also towered over Montgomery players.
Sage Creek owned defensive rebounds, in particular. That was a big hindrance to the hosts.
“I think we have one of the smallest teams in the county,” explained Martin, who played on the Aztecs’ 1996 San Diego Section Division II championship team.
“But our guys never gave up.”
Montgomery trailed, 41-25, at halftime. Though the hosts managed to whittle the deficit to four points late in the game, the Aztecs’ frenzied comeback fell short.
“I thought we played a little tight in the first half,” admitted Martin, whose team outscored the visitors 41-32 in the second half. “I thought we had two big chances we missed that proved to be the turning point in the game. We missed back-to-back lay-ups when we were down by five points with about 1:15 to play. Had we made those, we would only have been down by one point. That was big.”
Sage Creek led, 56-39, entering the final quarter. The Aztecs outscored the Bobcats 27-17 in the frame, stunning the visitors with a 18-6 run to trim the Sage Creek lead to five points, 62-57, with plenty of time still to play in the quarter.
A three-point bomb reduced the Bobcat lead to four points, 66-62, with 57.5 seconds left.
At this point, the Montgomery fans were roaring.
But Sage Creek calmly put the game out of reach at the free throw line in the dying stages of the contest. The Bobcats sank nine shots from the charity stripe in the final minute to offset the torrid Aztec comeback.
The Montgomery coach said having seniors on that 1996 CIF championship team was a key factor.
“In important situations, it’s always nice to have that senior leadership and experience on your side,” Martin said. “We have everyone coming back, but it takes a lot of hard work to get there.
“Times like these only come around few and far between; you’ve got to take advantage of them when you can.”
Three-pointers
Sage Creek seems a deserving finalist after eliminating higher-seeded teams in three consecutive rounds: seventh-seeded Christian in the first round (54-40), second-seeded Granite Hills in the quarterfinals (72-60) and Montgomery in the semifinals.
The Aztecs began their playoff run with a 73-64 opening round win over visiting Rancho Buena Vista on Feb. 22, then upset third-seeded Carlsbad, 56-52, in last Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Sophomore Zetiam Burton led Montgomery with 24 points in the win over RBV while Kyle Paranada dropped in 18 points and Tim Crawford added 17 points.
In the win over Carlsbad, the Aztecs out-scored the Lancers, 20-12, in the pivotal third quarter to take the lead.
Montgomery finished Mesa League play 7-5 to tie for second place (with Otay Ranch) in the league standings.
Mesa League champion Mater Dei Catholic (12-0 in league, 23-5 overall) dropped a 64-57 decision to fourth-seeded Foothills Christian in last Saturday’s Open Division quarterfinals.
The fifth-seeded Crusaders, however, defeated eighth-seeded La Costa Canyon, 61-40, in a state seeding playoff game on Tuesday to remain in contention in the upcoming Southern California regional playoffs.
Trey Anderson (19), Beon Riley (15) and Cliff Kidd (14) all scored in double-digits in Tuesday’s seeding game.
Anderson (18), Josh Tawhiao (13), Jacob Viss (11) and Riley (10) led the Mesa League champs in scoring in the loss to Foothills Christian, which fell by a score of 72-69 to top-seeded St. Augustine in Tuesday’s Open Division semifinals.
St. Augustine (26-4) will play second-seeded Torrey Pines (28-3) in Saturday’s Open Division championship game at 8 p.m. at USD.
