Mission Bay used a quick zone trap press to open, close and ultimately win the CIF Open Division championship game, 52-42, over No. 1 seeded Foothills Christian at SDSU’s Viejas Arena on March 2. Junior point guard Boogie Ellis led the Bucs with 16 points. Junior guard Andrea Scott had 13 points and sophomore guard Savaughn Davis chipped in 11 for the Bucs. Mission Bay (27-5), seeded No. 6 in the Southern California Regionals, will travel to No. 3 Torrance Bishop Montgomery (28-1) to play at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 9.
Last Friday, Ellis, wearing his bright gold sneakers, got the Bucs off to a good start by hitting consecutive 3-pointers. After a few minutes of sloppy back-and-forth play from both teams, Mission Bay settled down and used its aggressive zone press to force the Knights into several turnovers and quick shots. That strategy led to a 12-0 run and, after Davis banked in a half court heave at the buzzer, had Mission Bay ahead 35-21 at half time. After trading baskets in the third quarter, Foothills Christian took advantage of several Mission Bay turnovers and missed shots to whittle the lead to six points to start the fourth quarter. But in the final quarter, Ellis found 6-foot 7-inch tall Ronald Latting on a couple alley-oops and junior Jamaryee Norton, along with Davis, stepped up with acrobatic dives to the hoop to give Mission Bay another double-digit lead. The Bucs then re-established their zone press to rattle the Knights, and closed out the game by hitting clutch free throws to earn the school’s first sectional?basketball title since 2007.