Prep Wrap-Up : St. Bernard Still in Race for Top Spot

The back of Eric Nelson’s warm-up jacket reads: “Easy E.” Nice nickname, but not very accurate.

There is nothing easy about the way Nelson plays basketball. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound forward for St. Bernard High rates among the area’s most aggressive and intense players.

He proved it again Friday night, hitting the boards and clawing for loose balls to help the Vikings upset Bishop Amat, the No. 1-ranked team in the CIF 5-A Division, 70-65, in an Angelus League game at St. Bernard.

The win verified what Nelson has suspected for some time.

“We knew all along we had a good team,” he said. “We just had to come out and prove it. I guess tonight was the night.”

Frustrated by three close league defeats, the Vikings (15-6, 3-3) redeemed themselves and stayed in contention for the Angelus title. They trail Bishop Amat (20-2, 5-1) and Mater Dei (14-5, 5-1) by two games and St. Paul (14-4, 4-2) by one with four games remaining.

“I think we’re a good team that just hasn’t played that many good games,” said St. Bernard Coach Jim McClune. “We’ve never had the whole package. When that happens, I think we can be an excellent team. I think we can beat anybody in CIF.”

Few would argue that point after Friday night. Bishop Amat’s only previous loss was early in the season to St. Anthony, and last week the Lancers ended Mater Dei’s 55-game Angelus League winning streak.

However, the visitors from La Puente eventually succumbed to a tenacious inside assault by St. Bernard. In the third quarter, when the Vikings built a 12-point lead, they scored all 10 of their field goals on layups and follow shots.

Bishop Amat rallied to cut the deficit to one, 61-60, on a three-point shot by guard Terry Lamb with 3:02 remaining. St. Bernard countered with three free throws by reserve guard Troy Wade, a layup by forward Juno Armstrong and a one-handed dunk by Nelson to make it 68-62 with 1:21 left.

Nelson led the Vikings with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 6 steals. In addition he helped limit Bishop Amat’s standout center, Geoff Lear, to four field goals in the second half. Lear finished with a game-high 24 points, 14 coming in the first half.

McClune also commended centers Ed Stokes (eight points, nine rebounds) and Damon Woodruff for holding down Lear’s production in the second half.

Bishop Amat Coach Alex Acosta blamed poor shooting and sloppy ball-handling for his team’s first league defeat. He was assessed a technical foul early in the fourth quarter for yelling at the referee.

“I didn’t think we got a couple of calls that we should have,” he said. “The bottom line is we didn’t take care of the ball.”

Bishop Amat committed 12 turnovers in the second half. Nelson, who sat out the second quarter with two fouls, came up with several steals upon his return in the third quarter. He also pounded the offensive boards to give St. Bernard second and third chances at baskets.

Nelson honed his aggressive style on the football field. He was the Vikings’ leading receiver last season and is a top college prospect. He has narrowed his choices to UCLA and Washington.

“It was so hard to keep him on bench in the second quarter with his two fouls,” McClune said.

St. Bernard has little time to savor its big win. The Vikings play host to Mater Dei on Wednesday night in another important league game.

“We’re still two games behind,” McClune said. “That’s a long way, but we have a lot of games left.”

St. Bernard’s win over Bishop Amat capped a week of upsets.

Rolling Hills and Morningside dropped from the unbeaten ranks in the Bay and Pioneer leagues, tightening those races.

“Everything is up in the air,” said Rolling Hills Coach Cliff Warren, whose team suffered a 63-57 loss to North Torrance on Thursday. “Anything can happen in this league.”

Rolling Hills (15-5, 5-1) fell into a first-place tie with West Torrance (16-4, 5-1) to set up a showdown between those teams Wednesday night at West.

“The winner definitely has the inside track to the championship, and the loser has to sweat out a CIF (playoff) position,” Warren said.

Rolling Hills, unbeaten in the first round of league play, might have the toughest second-half schedule. The Titans play on the road against Palos Verdes (12-8, 3-3), which pulled into a third-place tie with Torrance with a 51-42 win over Tartars.

Leuzinger, meanwhile, continues to surprise. The Olympians, who were 1-19 last season, moved into a first-place tie in the Pioneer League with a 71-68 victory over three-time defending champion Morningside.

Senior forward Keith Pullen led all scorers with 19 points and senior guard Roger Thomas added 16 for Leuzinger (13-5, 5-1), which finds itself deadlocked with Morningside (13-7, 5-1) with four games left.

Morningside played without injured forwards Eddie Scott (broken wrist) and Jonathan Madison (injured finger).

Leuzinger plays at Miraleste, while Morningside visits Redondo in league games on Wednesday.