Rally falls short

SACRAMENTO — Kevin Greene said he’s watched a lot of Boston Celtics games, paying the closest attention to the lanky star with the same initials.

Greene is a lot beefier than Kevin Garnett; he’s going to USC to play football as a defensive end. But he might as well have been the “Big Ticket” Saturday in the CIF State Division III championship game at Arco Arena.

The Ocean View High boys’ basketball team won’t want to see him any time soon, not after Greene set a Division III title game record with 20 rebounds in Sacred Heart Cathedral’s 62-55 victory that denied the Seahawks their first state title.

“[Garnett] has a lot of emotion,” said Greene, who scored nine points and said he wants to also play basketball with the Trojans. “He has what it takes to win a championship. I told myself that’s what I have to do. I have to bring that. I don’t care if I have two points or four points. As long as I’m hollering in positive way, and beating my chest, and letting everybody know that we’re there, there’s no way in the world we’re going to lose.”

Ocean View battled in the second half, whittling a 20-point lead down to six. But Seahawks Coach Jim Harris didn’t see the same type of intensity from his team, at least not in a first half that ended with the Fightin’ Irish (29-4) up 11.

Ocean View (27-8), which has made a habit of getting off to fast starts in its CIF State playoff run, decidedly didn’t Saturday. At one point midway through the first quarter, the score was 12-1 Sacred Heart.

For the first half, the Seahawks shot 24% (six of 25). The struggle extended to the three-point line (one of seven) and free throws (nine of 16).

“It wasn’t us,” Harris said. “We didn’t have the fire, the heart, the drive, the confidence that I feel we’ve earned with this run.”

In addition, three Ocean View starters — senior guard Mason Jones and junior guards Avery Johnson and Aaron Delgado — all had two personal fouls after the first quarter.

Jones, who had scored in double figures in 10 straight games, only played 13 minutes and was held scoreless. Harris said he had been battling sickness and only practiced two days leading up to the game.

“Every shot was short,” Harris said. “He has never missed a jump-hook in his life, as far as we’re concerned. He wasn’t himself, and that didn’t help us, because he has been someone we’ve leaned on.”

Down 48-31 entering the fourth quarter, CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA champion Ocean View made things interesting. A three-pointer by junior Steven Yoon (nine points) cut it to 10 with just under five minutes to go. Then, a three-pointer by sophomore guard Billy Keller (11 points) cut it to 56-50 with 2:31 left.

The Seahawks again cut the deficit to six on Johnson’s drive to the basket with 1:20 on the clock. But after a runner by Sacred Heart senior Jerry Brown went in and out, there was Greene for a killer put-back with under a minute to go.

“I was glad we got to play the second half and display the courage and the character that I know we have,” Harris said. “The second half was who this team is … Eventually we showed up. In those kinds of games, sometimes you run out of time.”

Anthony Brown had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Ocean View. Johnson and junior center Ryan Okwudibonye had seven points each, and Chris Martinez added three.

For Sacred Heart Cathedral, which owned a 50-35 advantage on the boards, Nate Gartrell was the high-man with 23 points. Gartrell, a senior guard, hadn’t played high school basketball the last couple of years; he’s a standout baseball player.

He helped out the Fightin’ Irish and Coach Darrell Barbour time after time. Barbour said he knew Ocean View was an outside shooting team.

“I believe you live by the jump shot, you die by the jump shot,” Barbour said. “I thought the guys did a great job of pushing and attacking them, keeping them on their heels.”

Ocean View, which won its second CIF Southern Section title this year and first since 1998, might have to wait another year for a shot at a state title. The Seahawks will bring a lot of talent back next year, starting with Brown and Johnson, although associate Coach Tim Walsh said he really appreciated the contributions of seniors Jones, Kevin Wilson and Keith DeLawder.

“We think we can do some great things next season, but we’re going to miss the senior leadership that those three provided,” Walsh said.

Keller was awarded the CIF Sportsmanship Award for Ocean View.