DIVISION III-A ROUNDUP : St. Bernard’s Press Helps Servite Win

Servite turned the tables on St. Bernard by rallying in the second half for a 62-52 victory in a Division III-A quarterfinal game Friday night at Katella High School.

St. Bernard, a quick team that likes to run and gun, took an early lead but got impatient and went to its half-court press after halftime. That’s when usually conservative Servite scored eight consecutive points, then held on.

Servite (20-6) will meet Santa Margarita in the semifinals Tuesday.

“It’s not like we didn’t want to run with them,” Servite Coach Rich Smith said. “But we wanted to make sure we punished them with layups when we broke their press.”

Servite’s Adam Anderson scored six of his game-high 20 points in the Friars’ eight-point third-quarter run. Anderson added nine rebounds.

Easy baskets helped Servite (20-6)--which also got 17 points and four steals from guard Eddie Rubio--shoot 57% from the field (24 for 42).

St. Bernard’s Wyking Jones, a 6-foot-7 Loyola Marymount-bound center, scored a team-high 18 points before he fouled out with 1 minute 39 seconds left.

Guard Ronald Gardette (11 points) kept St. Bernard (14-12) close with three three-pointers off the bench. A Gardette three-pointer gave the Vikings a short-lived, 28-27 lead at the end of the first half.

But Anderson, a 6-5 swingman, opened the second half by sinking a 15-foot baseline jumper. At the end of the eight-point run, Anderson stole a pass intended for Jones and swept the length of the court for a left-handed layup.