Mission Bay High moved on from its March 3 CIF Division III championship title to notch a 74-67 win in the first round of the Southern California playoffs March 8.
The No. 3 seed Bucs played host to No. 6 seed Corona del Mar of Newport Beach at Mission Bay’s gym.
Basketball is one of the few prep sports that during the last 20 years have extended the season of play to determine a statewide champion.
The match-up with the Sea Kings started off bumpy while the Bucs battled a pair of 6-foot-7inch and 6-foot-9-inch center/forwards. The Bucs finished the first quarter down 11-18.
Mission Bay’s rally began in the second quarter with a stiffening defense and an exchange of three-point goals. The Bucs finally moved ahead 33-32 with one more last-second bucket from outside the paint by Isaac Parham.
Then in a dramatic shift for the second half, Mission Bay head coach Dennis Kane moved the Bucs big-man, James Hancock, to the outside ” a roll not seen at MBHS before.
“You have to get the ball to your best player where he could do the most good,” Kane said. “I have a lot of faith in James ” a lot of confidence. He’s a great inside-out player. I told him to go for it, and he did a tremendous job.”
In the second half, Hancock began to use more than his 6-foot-6-inch height by showing his stunning versatility and all-around basketball abilities ” dropping in three pointers, guard-like ball-handling, driving the basket with lightning passes for inside assists and even driving the baseline for power layups.
When it was over, Hancock had earned 24 points, followed by an outstanding performance at guard by Esias Tsegai for 18 points, Parham scored 16, Avery Petty 4, Demsas Tsegai 4, Daniel Hom 6 and Charles Jock 2.
Hancock and Parham each scored 3 three-point goals, with Hom scoring 2.
The Bucs moved on Saturday, March 10, to the regional semi-finals against No. 2 seed La Canada High northwest, of Pasadena.
Mission Bay was unable to upset the Spartan squad, stocked with 15 seniors. The Bucs were taken out of the state playoffs with a 65-58 loss in La Canada.
After building a 40-29 halftime lead, the Bucs were held to just five points in the third quarter. Aided by 7 three-pointers and a 43-point performance by the Spartans’ star player, the Bucs were unable to rally and move on.
“We were in the game ” it was a one-point game into the final minutes,” Kane said. “It was a rough crowd though ” a lot of technicals. Their coach got kicked out. But it was nobody’s fault ” we just didn’t do the things we needed to win.”
La Canada will play top-seed Artesia in the SoCal championship at UCLA Saturday, March 17. The state finals are in Sacramento March 24.
The 2007 Bucs finished the most successful season in Mission Bay history with a 23-6 record.
The previous best MBHS season record was the 22-6 team of 1976 coached by Larry Willis, according to Robert Harutunian, a member of that team and founder of the school Hall of Champions. The ’76 team boasted a 16-game winning streak that remains a school record.
The 1985 team were the only other Bucs to reach the CIF finals. They earned a 19-6 record led by coach Mike Seaman.
The 1963 team achieved a 20-5 record under coach Paul Beck. CIF competition in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s was head to head ” there were no divisions based on the size of the school. By 1985 there were two divisions when the Bucs were countywide CIF Division II runner-up.