Coaches Prep Basketball Tournament : Saddleback Puts Up Fight but St. Monica Wins Final

A taller and more experienced St. Monica High School team did all it could to pound Saddleback into submission in the final of the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Assn. summer tournament Sunday night.

But Saddleback, which defeated a bigger Muir team, 59-34, in the semifinals, served notice that despite the loss of four two-year starters from last year’s Southern Section 5-AA runner-up team, the Roadrunners still have a lot of run in them.

St. Monica’s oppressive 1-3-1 trap and domination of the offensive boards was enough to ensure a 50-40 victory in front of about 40 people in a humid Glendora High School gym. Saddleback, without guards Liem Nguyen and Andre McFarland and post player Marco Gomez, all summer starters, trailed by 21 points at one point. But the Roadrunners fought back to prevent a rout.

The Mariners, who have four starters back from last season’s 5-AA semifinal team, trailed only once, 2-1. But by halftime St. Monica led, 34-19, thanks to easy transition baskets off the press and strong board play.

“You could just tell every time they had the ball they just drove right at us,” Saddleback Coach Pat Quinn said. ‘ “They were going to dictate the game early.”

St. Monica forced Saddleback into 11 turnovers and outrebounded Saddleback, 17-7, in the first half.

St. Monica’s Cleveland Jackson, a 6-foot-5 senior, got 12 of his team-high 16 points in the first half, mostly on layups from offensive rebounds.

‘We want to play hard. That’s our style,” St. Monica Coach Leo Klemm said. “We play defense and rebound. Our philosophy is five people in the paint on all defensive rebounds.” St. Monica defeated Cajon in the semifinals, 58-43.

Saddleback had only three substitutes to St. Monica’s seven, but Quinn did not want to site fatigue as a factor.

“We were a step slow everywhere,” he said. “We wanted to try and slow things down a little because we knew we couldn’t go up and down with them but they were smart. They went into their trap and they did a good job of upping the tempo and making us do things we didn’t want to.”

Saddleback was led by Elton Moore, who had scored a team-high 16 points and six of his nine rebounds in the second half.

The Roadrunners trailed, 50-29, after Jackson’s dunk with about five minutes to play. But Saddleback scored the last 11 points of the game, four on baskets by sophomore Jason Register.