Sage Hill rally falls short

sage hill boys hoopsIRVINE -- You don’t have a full deck of cards when missing a pair of aces. That’s the quandary the Sage Hill School boys’ basketball team found itself in Monday.

The Lightning -- playing without two injured starters, and a third playing at half-speed recovering from the flu -- lost in the championship game of the Tarbut V’ Torah Tournament, 55-48, to host school Tarbut.

Sage -- which overcame an 11-3 Lion lead in the first quarter -- rallied to bring the score within a basket in the fourth quarter.

With the score 39-30 in TVT’s favor, the Lightning cut the Lion’s margin to 46-44. Jamie McGee scored eight of the 14 points in the run.

After Lion Eli Zevin’s three-point play gave Tarbut V’ Torah a five-point edge, McGee knocked down a jumper with 1:30 remaining to cut the lead back to three.

On the next possession, Tarbut V’ Torah senior Jared Bruss split two free throws before Sage Hill senior Troy Astorino found Shane Webster for a jumper to cut the lead to 48-46 with 58.5 seconds remaining.

Tarbut V’ Torah weathered the Lighting’s run and tightened up their defense to hold on for the win.

A missed jumper and two turnovers in the last minute gave Sage Hill no chance to take the lead.

Meanwhile, the Lions knocked down 5 of 6 free-throws to clinch the tournament championship and remain undefeated (10-0) for the season.

The loss was especially sweet for the Lions, who lost twice to Sage Hill in the same tournament last season -- 49-37 in pool play and 55-53 in the championship. Tarbut V’ Torah Coach Patrick Roberts knew he would be in for a slugfest against the Lions.

“We have tremendous respect for Sage Hill,” Roberts said. “We have been waiting for a rematch against them for over a year.

“Even when were up by 12 at one point, we knew McGee and the rest of the team would get hot and make a comeback.”

Jamie McGee led the Lightning with 17 points and four rebounds. The sophomore came alive in the second half, scoring 13 of his 17 points in the final two quarters.

“I wasn’t hitting the shots in the first half, just not getting many good looks,” McGee said. “In the second half, I tried to move around more to find more open shots. I thought they would start to cover me more in the second half.”

McGee said he felt that having reserve players play in a tight game will benefit the team later in the season.

“We improved as a team today, we were playing with two starters out and still almost beat a good team on their floor,” McGee said.

Sophomore point guard Nick Witte has been out the past eight games with an injured shoulder.

Connor Rose, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, also missed the game with a sprained ankle injury.

In addition, Tim Leffler played the game while recovering from the flu.

Despite the patchwork lineup, the Lightning still were within one basket with one minute left in the game.

“Lefler was playing at half-speed, but that’s still 100 miles per hour for him,” Lightning Coach Steve Keith said.

The flu-ridden senior finished with six points and two assists.

“I was pleased with the way we played today. We had a patchwork lineup, but the kids grew into the game as it progressed,” Keith said.

The Lightning (8-4) will have the rest of the week off before competing Dec. 27 in the opening round of the Long Beach St. Anthony tournament.

Tarbut V’ Torah Tournament

Championship game

Tarbut V’ Torah 55,

Sage Hill 48

Score by Quarters