McWilliams Gives Pomona Victory

Johnny McWilliams scored four points in the final 14 seconds of overtime to give Pomona an 85-84 victory over Inglewood Morningside in a first-round Division III Southern Regional State tournament basketball game Tuesday at Pomona.

Pomona trailed, 84-81, when McWilliams, a 6-foot-6 senior, followed his own missed shot to cut Morningside’s lead to one point. Then, he picked off an errant pass by the Monarchs’ Shawn Forbin and scored a layup to win the game.

“We were trying to get (Forbin’s) attention to let him know we had a timeout, and for him to throw the ball towards the basket,” Morningside Coach Carl Franklin said. “But instead, he passed the ball backwards.”

McWilliams, who will attend USC next fall as a wide receiver on a football scholarship, said he was in the right place at game’s end.

“After I scored the first basket, we were looking to foul . . . but, the ball was deflected and I caught it for a layup,” said McWilliams, who finished with 20 points, including two three-point shots in the second half.

Pomona (23-6), the Southern Section III-AA champion, had many heroes in a game that had 14 lead changes. Darius McJimpson did not start for the Devils, but his team-high 22 points--including eight in the fourth quarter--keyed Pomona in the second half.

Morningside (27-5), the Southern Section Division III-A runner-up, started fast in taking a 25-23 first-quarter lead. Pomona rallied behind McJimpson’s eight points to take a 46-41 lead at halftime.

The teams exchanged leads in the second half until Morningside scored the fourth quarter’s final four points and Dennis Savage blocked a layup attempt by McJimpson.

Pomona next plays San Diego Kearny, a 73-71 winner over Lemoore on Tuesday.