SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFF CHAMPIONSHIPS : Parks Would Have Written a Different Scenario

Shortly before game time, Cherokee Parks walked into the empty Sports Arena, his voice echoing off the rafters.

“HICKORY . . . “

But Parks’ fortunes didn’t follow those of the mythical Hickory Huskers in the basketball movie “Hoosiers.” There would be no championship at the end for Parks and the Marina High School team.

Stifled by a collapsing defense, Parks scored only 19 points in a 50-49 loss to Santa Barbara in the Southern Section I-A championship game.

Parks shot seven of 12 from the field, but had only three baskets in four attempts after the first quarter. He scored six in the second half, and two in the fourth quarter.

“We hung in there and we banged on (Marina),” Santa Barbara Coach Bob Purdy said. “Cherokee is a hell of a player, but he has to put on 20 pounds to play at Duke next year. Our guys banged him and wore him down.”

Still, Parks had a chance to tie the game with 21 seconds left.

With the Vikings trailing, 48-46, Parks got the ball inside. But instead of shooting, he threw a bad pass crosscourt to guard Sean Haselrig, who was whistled for traveling after retrieving the ball.

Santa Barbara’s Dave Palmer broke away on the inbounds play for a dunk, giving the Dons a 50-46 lead with 13 seconds remaining.

Parks said he passed up the shot inside because he thought Haselrig was open.

“Sometimes I feel in position,” Parks said, “Sometimes I’m not.”

Santa Barbara’s swarming defense made sure he wasn’t in position.

Everywhere he went on the floor, he was followed by Santa Barbara’s 6-8 Erwin Roelofs. Forward Matt Purdy and guard Adam Sjovold dropped inside to help pressure Parks.

“They did a good job with their big guy (Roelofs) down low,” Marina Coach Steve Popovich said. “They’re physical down there, and the refs really let things go.”

Parks’ teammates were little help. Forward Brant Shelor missed his five shots from the field and scored three points before fouling out with 6 minutes 17 seconds left in the game.

Haselrig finished with 11 points, including two three pointers that kept Marina from fading early in the third quarter. But Haselrig also struggled from the outside, hitting four of 11 shots.

“Every time we looked inside for Parks, they were sagging down on him and we had to hit the shot,” Haselrig said. “We didn’t.”

After the game, Parks was the voice of reason to his teammates. He gave them a pep talk on the bench as the Santa Barbara players received their medals.

“Everybody had their head down,” Parks said. “There were guys laying on the floor and guys with towels over their heads. It was sad, but there was nothing we could do about. The game was over. There was no point in getting down.”

They were words that will echo around Marina for a long, long time.