SAMOHI — Irony seemed to play a cruel trick on the Vikings Tuesday night, watching as their CIF Southern Section title hopes were pulled out from under them.
Long Beach Jordan advanced to the Division I-AA finals with a hard fought 62-58 victory. Santa Monica High guard Bryan Louff, who made a critical steal in the final minute of Friday night’s quarterfinal win over Long Beach Poly, had the ball snatched away by junior forward Larry Anderson with eight seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Panthers clinging to a 59-58 lead. Anderson was fouled on a lay-up attempt, sinking one of two free throws to put the Panthers ahead by two.
Santa Monica had the ball with six seconds remaining and a chance to win, but point guard Terrance Boozer was bumped, slipped and lost control of the ball, which was recovered by the Panthers, according to Samohi coach James Hecht.
Jordan, which last reached the Division I-AA title game in 1996, will face top-seeded Los Alamitos at the Pond in Anaheim on Saturday for the championship.
The Vikings trailed for the majority of the game, falling behind by as many as 13 at the end of the third quarter. But with the energy of players like Louff — who finished with 17 points, including four three-pointers — Samohi was able to claw their way back into the game in the fourth quarter, outscoring Jordan 18-9. Unfortunately for Samohi, it wasn’t enough.
“I really have to tip my hat to Long Beach Jordan,” Hecht said. “They are a great team, as are we, but we just came up on the short end of the stick.”
While players and coaches were disappointed with the loss, Hecht said his team, seeded 14th in the playoffs, should be pleased with their performance Tuesday and throughout the season, in which they went 20-10 and reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 1987 — the last time the Vikings won a division championship.
“After the game, I just told the guys that they made a lot of people proud, including myself,” Hecht said. “I think we got the best out of each player. They kept their composure and every day as a team they worked hard to get better. They embraced that challenge.
“They represented Santa Monica very well.”
Hecht said he will be sad to see his seniors leave, many of whom he has helped develop since they were freshman. But Hecht is looking forward to a new batch of players and believes the team can build on its success this year.
“We have a lot of good players coming back and some good talent coming up … so we are excited about next year,” he said. “Wse are still holding on to the memories of this season, but we have to plan ahead. There is a lot of work to do between now and the start of next season.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 2, 2006. Read the original PDF.