Glendora’s ‘Mental Toughness’ Is Enough for a 56-50 Victory

Glendora’s experience playing in championship games, and playing in large venues, paid off Saturday night against San Bernardino Pacific in a 56-50 victory before 8,282 in the Southern Section Division I-A championship game at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

Glendora (30-1) won its third title of the ‘90s, its first since 1992.

The Tartans were making their fifth appearance in a championship game, their first since losing to Mater Dei in the 1996 final when several of the juniors on this season’s team were freshmen.

“We haven’t had a lot of close games so we tried to practice mental toughness,” said Glendora junior forward Chris Clark. “We’ve played before in the Pond and Pauley Pavilion, so we’re used to this.”

Glendora led, 26-25, at halftime. The Tartans were ahead, 49-40, with 4:24 left, then withstood a Pacific charge that brought the Pirates to within 51-50 with 1:30 remaining on a basket by Chaun Ballard, who scored a team-high 15 points.

Junior guard Casey Jacobsen, who scored 37 points, made a shot inside with 1:09 left to push Glendora’s lead back to three.

After Pacific guard Chris Smith was called for traveling, Jacobsen made three free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory.

“We didn’t play very well tonight, but we found a way to win,” said Jacobsen,” who made 10 of 25 shots and 16 of 21 free throws. “We didn’t shoot well and we couldn’t stop them in the fourth quarter. But we still came out on top.”

Smith scored 14 points and had seven assists for Pacific (22-9), which had defeated Mater Dei, 70-69, on a last-second shot to reach the final.