Serra’s Season Has Reached a Crossroads : Basketball: After 74-67 loss in Southern Section IV-A Division championship, the Cavaliers look toward possible rematch with Roadrunners in State Division IV playoffs.

Serra High Coach Dwan Hurt had reason to be disappointed after the Cavaliers lost to Crossroads, 74-67, in the Southern Section IV-A Division championship game Friday night at Santa Monica College.

But Hurt, who guided to Cavaliers to four consecutive playoff victories, was pleased with his team’s perseverance.

“I think our kids worked hard and battled back all season,” Hurt said. “No one even expected us to be here in the first place. It’s an accomplishment for our kids and our program.

“I told the kids before the game that win, lose or draw it’s a big accomplishment just getting here. I’m just really proud of the kids and what they’ve done.”

Serra was the only Southern Section team with a losing record to reach a division final. The Cavaliers entered postseason play with a 10-15 record after finishing in a tie for fourth place in the Camino Real League with St. Anthony.

The Cavaliers’ fortunes changed once the playoffs started. They reached the IV-A final with victories over Maranatha, Carpinteria, La Salle and L.A. Baptist by an average of nearly 20 points.

But the Cavaliers had their difficulty with the Roadrunners from the start.

“In the beginning of the game, they were packing their zone in real tight on us and we couldn’t get inside on them,” Serra forward Michael Boyd said. “So we had to take a lot of shots from the outside.”

In Serra had relied on the inside play of Boyd, center Akeli Jackson and forward Arthur Tate during their run through the playoffs. Tate was the only one to score in the first half against Crossroads, which led, 30-25, at halftime.

After trimming the deficit to 47-46 at the end of the third quarter, Serra surged ahead in the fourth. The Cavaliers led, 57-53, after guard Roderick Swift made three free throws with four minutes five seconds remaining.

But Serra was unable to score again until less than a minute remained. Crossroads tied the score, 57-57, on a basket by center Austin Croshere with 3:26 remaining. The Roadrunners went ahead, 59-57, when Croshere scored again with 2:18 left.

By the time Serra scored again, Crossroads had scored 13 consecutive points and led, 66-57.

“We did a better job of controlling the tempo in the second half,” guard Dan Carpenter said. “But every time we would start to play at our tempo, we would lapse a little and that’s when Crossroads was able to capitalize.”

It wasn’t what Hurt had envisioned.

“We just didn’t play as well as we did in the last four games,” he said. “We didn’t do the things that got us here.”

But the Cavaliers (14-16) may get a second chance against the Roadrunners (19-7). Both teams received berths to the State Division IV playoffs. Serra will play an undetermined opponent in the first round of the Southern California regionals on Tuesday.

Boyd is looking forward to a possible rematch.

“We’d love to play them again,” he said. “They’re a good team and they don’t make many mistakes. But we think we can beat them.”

Said Hurt: “We’re a young team and this was a good experience for us. I think we’ll learn from it.”

With six underclassmen among the team’s top seven players, Hurt says Serra’s best games are ahead.

“Dan (Carpenter) is the only senior who really plays a lot,” he said. “So it’s a very promising future. I think we’ve established ourselves as one of the powers in the division for next (season).”

But before next season arrives, Hurt is hopeful his team will have another string of victories in the regional.