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Sports

SMC Men's Hoops Upset by Harbor in State Playoffs

Cold shooting doomed the Corsairs, who lost 71-66 in the first round on Saturday night.

It's hard to imagine a team heading into the men's state basketball playoffs than . It's equally hard to imagine a team being as cold as the Corsairs were in the first round Saturday night.

Santa Monica shot just 24 of 70 from the floor and nine of 38 from three-point range in a shocking 71-66 loss to LA Harbor that had "rust" written all over it. As the No. 3 seed in Southern California, the Corsairs went a week between games, which may have contributed to their poor shooting against a Seahawks squad that SMC had beaten twice earlier in the season.

"The ball didn't roll our way and my shot just wasn't going down for me," said sophomore guard Everett Brown, one of three Corsairs last week. "Too much time off makes you anxious. We knew what we were up against. It's tough to beat a team three times in a row."

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Brown hit a three-pointer to beat the first-half buzzer, giving Santa Monica a 39-30 lead. But head coach Jerome Jenkins was concerned that his team wasn't playing the kind of defense that allowed it to win 10 straight games on its way to the WSC South Division title.

"Every time we've had a little break in our schedule it's taken us a little while to get up to speed," said Jenkins, in the South Division. "Give Harbor a lot of credit. Tonight they were a closer team than us. They've improved since the last time we played them."

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Harbor pulled even at 41-41 with 15:33 to go, and momentum swung back and forth the rest of the way. Sheldon Allen's bank shot gave 16th-seeded Harbor (17-12) a 48-43 lead with 11:25 left, but Santa Monica responded with an 8-0 run to go ahead 51-48 with 9:42 remaining.

Brown's fast-break layup gave the host Corsairs (20-8) a 56-53 lead with 7:33 left, but Harbor tied it at 59-59 until sophomore guard AJ Harris, also a WSC First-Team selection, made a jumper in the lane to give Santa Monica a 61-59 lead with 5:05 left.

The game was tied, 61-61, when San Diego State-bound sophomore Deshawn Stephens, who was playing despite an ankle injury suffered in SMC's regular- season finale, was whistled for his fifth foul with 4:04 left. Without their star player and with no one showing confidence from the three-point line, Jenkins knew his team was in trouble.

"We've averaged 90-plus points our last seven games, and they were holding us down in the 60s, so that wasn't a good sign," he said. "Deshawn was limited in what he could do, but I play 10 or 11 guys every game. He had 19 [points] against them the last time."

Stephens had three blocks, two rebounds and two steals, but attempted just two field goals and didn't score a single point. "I really only practiced a day and a half, and it bothered me having [my ankle] taped up. I couldn't move like I usually do, but I'm disappointed that I didn't get anything done today."

Harbor inched ahead in the final two minutes, but the Corsairs pulled to within a point at 67-66 on Lee Lark's fadeaway three-pointer and Brown's free throw with 1:11 left.

After Santa Monica failed to steal an inbounds pass, Harbor's Kevin Dawson was intentionally fouled by Brown and made both free throws to give the Seahawks a 69-66 lead with 58 seconds left. Brown missed a three-pointer and, after a jump was called, Harbor took possession with 29 seconds left.

Dawson and teammate Dennis Hardwell each added a free throw to provide the final margin for the South Coast Conference champions. Harbor moves on to the second round and will try to pull off another upset when it travels to 11th-seeded Mt. San Jacinto on Wednesday. 

"They have a lot of talent, and they're playing at home, so they weren't just going to roll over," Harbor head coach Tony Carter-Loza said of the Corsairs, who beat Harbor by one point at the Rio Hondo Tournament in December and by seven points in a nonconference meeting a week later. "Stephens is a great player, a great rebounder, so that was a big blow to them. He had six dunks against us the last time we were here."

Brown was just five of 19 from the field, including four of 18 from long range, but finished with 15 points. Lark led the Corsairs with 18 points and six steals, Harris had 14 points and eight assists, and Matt Sinclair had 10 points and two blocks.

"We were fighting against a lot of different basketball gods tonight," Jenkins said of his team, which overcame adversity early in the season to capture its first WSC South title since 1999. "After we lost our first two [conference] games, I told the team we can win the rest of our games, and sure enough we did."

Stephens, also a First-Team All-Conference choice, admitted that despite the early playoff exit, the Corsairs' season was a success. "We were expected to go farther than we went [in the playoffs], but at the start of the season, we weren't expected to have the kind of season we did. We played hard, we just came up short."

Stephens, a 6' 8" forward out of Chatsworth High, can now turn his attention to San Diego State, a team enjoying an excellent season in its own right. The Aztecs are 27-2 and ranked sixth in the country.

"I can't wait to get there, but I was hoping to take some accolades with me—like a state championship," Stephens said. "Last year we were dysfunctional, but we were much more of a team this season. This is the best team I've played on my whole life."

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