San Diego Section Playoffs : Morse Puts Pressure on Monarchs for Win

SPRING VALLEY —  No. 3 Monte Vista High School had the higher ranking entering Wednesday night’s 3-A quarterfinal playoff game against No. 6 Morse, but the Tiger players had the higher vertical leaps.

Using explosive jumping ability, quick hands that led to numerous steals on the full-court press, and sharp outside shooting, Morse raced past the Monarchs, 76-57, at Monte Vista.

In a 3-A semifinal, Morse (14-6) will face Patrick Henry in a battle of City Eastern teams at 8 p.m. Friday night at Serra. Henry defeated Morse, 69-67, and, 63-60 in double overtime this season.

Morse controlled the tempo from the outset against the top-ranked defensive team in the county. Entering the game, Monte Vista (21-2) had allowed an average of 43.7 points a game. Their only loss was by one point to Henry.

Morse’s full-court press forced Monte Vista into 14 first-half turnovers and took them out of their half-court offense.

Morse outscored the Monarchs, 8-2, in the final two minutes of the first quarter to take a 19-10 lead.

“I think we came out kind of nervous,” said Monte Vista forward Demetrius Laffitte, who finished with a team-high 19 points.

Meanwhile, Morse was loose. Playing without 6-foot 10-inch starting center Chris Jeter, who was sidelined with an ankle injury, the usually quick Tigers were even quicker.

Led by senior guard Paul Bryant, who scored a game-high 29 points on a variety of 15-foot jumpers and twisting layups off the break, the Tigers upped their lead to 31-16 midway through the second quarter.

“It was in the second quarter that I began to feel they might keep it going,” Laffitte said. “I was surprised how well they were shooting, and they played real good defense.”

The taller front line of the Monarchs was held in check by the Tigers. Monarch 6-5 forward David Burgess was limited to eight points, and 6-6 center Barney Laffitte 6) and Tony Kemp each added 11.

Elsewhere in the 3-A playoffs:

Poway 106, Bonita Vista 51--”It was one of those nights where everything just went well for us,” said Poway Coach Neville Saner after his top-ranked Titans (22-1) had dismantled the Barons (14-9) at Poway.

Dominick Johnson scored 26 points, Jud Buechler had 20 and John Colborne scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the Titans ran to a 35-7 lead after the first quarter and were never threatened.

In the 3-semifinals Saturday at Mira Mesa, Poway, will play Sweetwater, a 77-69 winner over El Capitan.

Elsewwhere in the 2-A playoffs:

Mission Bay 56, Crawford 53--After a 24-24 halftime tie, Crawford scored five points in the third period and was not able to recover from the 35-29 deficit. Jon Cheatham had a game-high 17 points to lead Mission Bay (18-5). Brent Chandler scored 13 points and Rodney Henderson had 10. Crawford (11-11) was led by Mark Wheaton, who scored 15 points, and Clif Sullivan, who managed 14. The victory sends the fourth-seeded Buccaneers into the semifinals against top-seeded El Camino Friday at Mira Mesa.

Chula Vista 62, Kearny 61--The second-seeded Spartans survived the upset attempt by the Komets in the first-round game at Chula Vista. The Spartans (19-6) will face Oceanside in the semifinals Saturday at Serra. Kearny, the City Western League runner-up, finished at 18-7.