SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : 4-A : El Toro Is Flat in 72-63 Loss to Dominguez : Chargers Can’t Recover From Sluggish Stretches

It wasn’t any 2-3 zone or matchup zone that beat the El Toro High School basketball team Friday night.

It was more like the Dead Zone, an altered state of consciousness in which the Chargers appeared to be in suspended animation, sleepwalking through the motions on the court.

Twice, the Chargers ventured into this area against Dominguez in the first round of the Southern Section 4-A playoffs, and they paid dearly for their lapses.

El Toro played well for most of the game, but the two letdowns led directly to a 72-63 loss in the Chargers’ gym.

A crowd of 1,500 watched El Toro play even with Dominguez through the first period and then take a 25-20 lead in the second. The Chargers had a chance to make it 27-20 when Mack Powell hit Bret Johnson with a back-door pass that freed Johnson for an open layup.

But Johnson, who scored 16 points, put a little too much on the shot, which hit the glass and the rim before bounding away. The Dons then rolled off eight straight points, four on follow shots, to take a 28-25 lead.

El Toro trailed, 34-31, at halftime, but when play began in the third period the Chargers’ appeared to have left their game in the locker room.

Dominguez opened the quarter with eight straight points to take a 42-31 lead before Corey Wayland finally scored for the Chargers at the 5:34 mark. The Dons increased their cushion to 16 points, 51-35, on Ronnie Coleman’s tip-in with 2:22 left.

El Toro was playing with little emotion. The Chargers were flat on offense and defense. During one timeout, El Toro Coach Tim Travers screamed at his players to snap out of their trance.

They finally did, reeling off eight straight points in the final 1:31 of the third period to cut the deficit to 10 points, 55-45, to start the fourth.

Eric Speaker, who finished with 22 points, opened the period with a follow shot, and Wayland, who added 21, made two free throws to cut it to 55-49. A minute later, Speaker’s jump shot made it 56-51.

But the Chargers never got any closer. The Dons, troubled by the El Toro press, got their offense back on track and made 6 of 8 free throws in the final 1:15 to hold off the Chargers.

“The flat spot in the second quarter and at the start of the second half really hurt us,” Travers said. “You can’t have dead spots against a good team.”

For one half, El Toro defensive specialist Neil Madewell did an excellent job on Coleman, the USC-bound forward who averages about 23 points a game. Coleman managed only four points in the first two periods but broke free for 14 in the third and finished with 22.

Reserve guard Mark Mitchell, who averages three points a game, came through with 13 points. Eric Washington (14), Patrick Jones (13) and Michael Elliot (10) also scored in double figures for the Dons, who will play Diamond Bar in Tuesday’s second round.