HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Poway Edges Burroughs, Reaches Mt. Carmel Final

SAN DIEGO —  Poway High’s boys basketball varsity is becoming a good team , or so says Coach Neville Saner.

But Saner may be guilty of an understatement. Escaping a late surge by Burroughs High of Burbank in a semifinal Thursday in the Mount Carmel tournament, Poway posted a 77-76 victory and earned a berth in tonight’s final against Mount Carmel.

Poway also improved to 8-0.

That’s not just good, that’s very good.

“I’ve been saying all along that we’re doing better than I anticipated,” Saner said. “By this time, we’ve proven we’re a good team. Now the question is ‘How good?’ ”

Against Burroughs, the answer was “just good enough.” The game went down to the final seconds.

Greg Sorrell hit two free throws with 23 seconds remaining to put Poway up, 77-74. Burroughs Coach Ira Sollod called a timeout and told his team to go for a quick two-point basket, foul and look for another quick shot.

With 10 seconds showing, Doug Casteneda followed that advice and sunk an eight-foot jumper. That pulled the Indians to within one, 77-76. But it left them somewhat confused as Poway inbounded the ball to Greg Sorrel, who evaded being fouled until only two seconds remained.

Sorrell missed the front end of his one-and-one, but it didn’t matter. Burroughs had no time to move the ball up court.

The Titans often got off three and four shots in a possession in the fourth quarter and twice came up with an offensive rebound off a free throw. Junior Frank Garrett led Poway with nine rebounds, and sophomore Kyle Milling came down with seven.

Milling also scored 19 points on seven-of-eight shooting. Sorrell led the Titans with 25 points, including 12 in the second quarter.

In other Mt. Carmel Tournament games:

Mt. Carmel 59, Santa Barbara 57--With the score tied at 57, Dana Pope drove down court and hit a jumper from eight feet out with two seconds left. Santa Barbara’s Jesse Turner led all scorers with 18 points. Bill Wooton had 13 for Mt. Carmel (8-2).

San Pasqual 72, Monte Vista 70--David Durst scored 20 points, including four three-pointers, for San Pasqual. Teammate Bryan Banner added 15 points. Monte Vista led, 39-36, at halftime, but San Pasqual took the lead with a 19-15 third quarter. Joe McNaull and Dean Johnson both scored 26 points for Monte Vista.

USDHS 70, Oceanside 69--Jerry Garrett made his third consecutive three-pointer to pull Oceanside within a point with four seconds left, but the Pirates could get no closer. Garrett finished with 19 points for Oceanside.

Baron Optimist Tournament

Crawford 50, Kearny 49--Kearny outscored the Colts, 17-11, in the fourth quarter to pull within one point. Tito Singleton scored 16 points for Crawford, which was without senior Tracy Halton (29-point average), who possibly tore a ligament in his knee against Morse.

Crawford 60, Bonita Vista 37--Marc Carter scored 20 points and Tito Singleton added 14 to for Crawford (9-4).

Morse 80, Mar Vista 50--Anthony Miller’s 24 points and Garnell Cherry’s 19 paced Morse. Tim Page had 15 for Mar Vista (2-9).

Morse 65, Kearny 49--In its second game, Morse (8-4) was led by David Dunn with 15 points and Andre Calvin with 12. Jamar Lavender had 11, including three three-pointers. Darnay Scott (14) and Tommy Rawlins (11) led the Komets (8-4).

Bonita Vista 86, Mar Vista 60--Allen McNamee and Brian Clark lifted the Barons (7-3) over the Mariners (2-10). Chris Arglin had 14 for Mar Vista.

Montgomery Tournament

San Dieguito 77, Montebello 68--The Mustangs’ Sean Howard had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Matt de La Pena added 23 points to lead San Dieguito (4-5) into the championship against Central of El Central tonight.

Christian 92, Montgomery “B” 28--Tony Clark scored 54 points to lead Christian into today’s third-place game against Castle Park.

Castle Park 61, Montgomery “A” 33--Nine players scored for the Trojans, led by Tony Thompson’s 15. Rolen Jiao had 11 for Montgomery.

Ramona Shootout

Ramona 69, El Cajon Valley 58--Alfonso De La Nuez scored 23 points to lead Ramona (6-1), which will play Imperial tonight for the championship. Imperial defeated Prince Rupert, 61-49.

Nogales Christmas Tournament

Torrey Pines 78, Azusa 60--Bart Brandenburg and Bill Schiebe each scored 16 points for Torrey Pines (11-1). Brandenburg added eight rebounds. Torrey Pines, which led by only two at halftime, outscored Azusa, 26-11, in the third quarter.

Burnaby (Canada) Wildcat Invitational

Sweetwater 91, Killarney 63--Carlos Campbell scored 32 points and Joe McDowell 24 for Sweetwater (11-0). Sweetwater, which led, 53-28, at halftime, will play Burnaby Central in the semifinals tonight.

Ontario Kiwanis Tournament

Whittier 71, St. Augustine 58--Brian Cantwell led St. Augustine with 19 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and five steals. Whittier improved to 10-2. St. Augustine (7-5) will play Serra of Los Angeles today.

Brea Tournament

Brea Olinda 51, Fallbrook 46--Only four Brea Olinda players scored, led by Keith Walker’s 26 points, put that was enough against Fallbrook in a quarterfinal. Chris Miller scored 21 points to lead Fallbrook (7-3).

Girls

Point Loma/Ben Fischer Tournament

Point Loma 66, Chula Vista 25--Tyeast Brown scored 22 points and Stacy Wainright had 18 for Point Loma (12-0). Point Loma led, 36-11, at halftime. The Pointers will play Bakersfield North for the championship tonight.

Oceanside 40, Helix 37--Nykia Burnside led Oceanside (6-4) with 14 points. Oceanside’s leading scorer, Mildred Conston (20-point average) got into early foul trouble and missed 12 minutes. Conston scored eight points and had 13 rebounds. Helix is 2-5.

North (Bakersfield) 70, Granite 47--Lorrai Ash scored 31 points for North (9-1). Granite Hills (6-5) was led by Nicole Parker with 17 points.

San Marcos 40, Monte Vista 29--Tammy Hinrichs scored 15 points for San Marcos.

El Centro 52, Patrick Henry 23--El Centro led, 29-2, at halftime.

Patriot Classic at Orange Glen

Rancho Buena Vista 63, Escondido 28--Skiy Burton and Shawna Edge each scored 11 for Rancho Buena Vista. Teammate Annjanette Vitulli added 10.

Ramona Tournament

USDHS 66, Castle Park 61--Senior Amy Seidlinger, who is averaging 29.5 points in the tournament, scored 24 for USDHS (5-1), which will play Prince Rupert (Canada) for the championship today at 6:15.

Christian 55, Ramona JV 16--Tiffany Stutz scored 29 points and had 10 steals for Christian (4-4).