San Pedro Rally Falls Short Against Crenshaw, 87-83

For many seasons, the Crenshaw name has been enough to flatten City Section opponents.

But San Pedro High boys’ basketball Coach Jack Kordich says that aura appears to be fading.

A scrappy San Pedro team stormed back from a 14-point deficit in the second half Wednesday afternoon, but fell in the waning moments to visiting Crenshaw, 87-83, in a Southern Pacific Conference game at San Pedro.

“So much for the Crenshaw mystique,” Kordich said. “We killed that today. If nothing else, this game showed us we can really play with the top teams. It’s going to help us against the rest of the league.”

Crenshaw (15-3 overall, 4-0 in conference play) built a 63-49 lead in the third quarter, thanks in part to point guard Kevin Ollie, who got most of his game-high 25 points on soft jump shots over the lane.

But San Pedro (15-3, 2-1) rallied down the stretch, using a crisp-passing offense that freed the Pirate guards for shots against Crenshaw’s man-to-man defense.

Pirate swingman Jerry Wells scored 15 of his 23 points, including three three-point baskets, during San Pedro’s second-half surge. Point guard Gary Herrera (five assists) scored eight of his 10 points in the final quarter.

San Pedro center Andre Smith scored a team-high 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Guard Devon Hamilton (10 points, five assists) and forward Aaron Zersen (14 points) also scored in double figures for the Pirates.

A driving jump shot by Wells cut the Crenshaw lead to two with 1:03 left, and after a steal, Smith sank a short bank shot with 39 seconds left to tie the score, 83-83.

On the next possession, Smith grabbed a rebound under Crenshaw’s basket, but was tied up for a jump ball with 24 seconds left with possession going to Crenshaw.

On the inbounds pass, Crenshaw’s Joey Drake (16 points) made a short bank shot for an 85-83 lead. On San Pedro’s last possession, Herrera, Wells and Zersen missed shots and Crenshaw’s Darrell Armstrong scored on a layup as time ran out.

Eight Crenshaw players scored. At one point in the first quarter, Crenshaw Coach Willie West substituted for his five starters.

“We didn’t want to get into a running game against Crenshaw, especially when they go 13 players deep,” Kordich said. “This wasn’t the right game to be experimenting with our reserves.”

Still, the game was tied at halftime, 41-41, thanks to a tip-in by Zersen at the end of the second quarter.

Wells, San Pedro’s best all-around player, contributed nine rebounds, four blocked shots and five assists.