Mills comes up short

SAN FRANCISCO -- The faraway looks and soggy eyes said it all -- this one hurt the deepest. With a golden chance to advance to its first Central Coast Section championship game, the Mills High boys' basketball team instead dropped a 53-49 heartbreaker to Sacred Heart Cathedral in a CCS Division III playoff semifinal on Wednesday at Saint Ignatius. "This is going to hurt for a long time," Vikings coach Rick Hanson said. "There is no magic way to tell them (the players) to make them feel better, but I was proud that I was able to coach them. They did everything we asked of them." Except win. But top-seeded Mills (21-8) came close -- oh so close. Trailing 50-49, the Vikings inbounded the ball near midcourt with 12.3 seconds remaining. Mills point guard Kyle Wong, who had another superb performance finishing with 24 points, crossed the halfcourt line before accelerating to the top of the key. With three Fightin' Irish (13-14) defenders converging on him, Wong stumbled to the ground. SHC's Jamal Ford picked up the loose ball near midcourt before Mills was forced to intentionally foul before his layup attempt with four seconds left. Ford made one of two free throws and the Fightin' Irish inbounded the ball, and Karl Reyes was fouled with 1.6 seconds to go. Reyes made both free throws to account for the final margin. On the key sequence, the Vikings couldn't have asked for a better situation. Wong consistently got to the basket off dribble penetration throughout the game, and he was driving hard toward the basket on the decisive play. Hanson didn't know if Wong stumbled on his own or if his fall was aided by a SHC player or simply great SHC defense -- or perhaps a little bit of everything. "I'll have to check the video, but the outside official is one of the best in the area so maybe it's just a tough break for us," Hanson said. Mills led two times for only 50 seconds, but it had a great chance to take the game at the end. Two free throws from Darryl Wong (seven points) with 50 seconds left gave the Vikings their last lead, 49-48. However, SHC scored with 20 seconds to go, setting up the Vikings' final offensive play. The Fightin' Irish led for the most of the way and threatened on occasion to pull away. But every time they did, Mills responded. When SHC took its largest lead, 30-23, late in the second quarter, Kyle Wong hit a 16-foot jumper and Kevin Matsukura (15 points) followed with a 3-pointer. Mills got off to a slow start, trailing 8-0 only minutes into the game. But a 3-pointer and strong drive from Kyle Wong followed by a Matsukura trey made it 8-8 midway through the opening quarter. As expected, SHC had a decisive advantage on the glass. The Fightin' Irish outrebounded Mills 42-20, and nearly had as many offensive rebounds (15) as the Vikings' total. Hanson felt his players did all they could do against a bigger and physically stronger SHC squad. "We pretty much knew they would outrebound us," Hanson said. "We were counting on doing some other things better than them to compensate (for the rebounding deficit). SI had 16 offensive rebounds against us (in the Vikings' quarterfinal win), so rebounding was certainly an issue. But you just can't tackle them underneath the basket. We held them off as best as we could." Despite the loss, the Vikings had a season to remember. They were co-Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division champion along with Carlmont and defeated Burlingame for the first time in several years. And Mills stood toe to toe with an ultra-tough SHC team. "I can't tell you how much I appreciated the guys' effort all season," Hanson said. "It was a great experience just watching them work hard and the way they responded during practice and in games. A lot of times they played their best when they had to." Burlingame 69, Riordan 66 Panthers coach Jeff Dowd wasn't too concerned when the Crusaders jumped out to an 11-3 lead. The Burlingame players rewarded their coach's faith by quickly turning things around en route to a semifinal victory. The No. 3 seed Panthers (21-8) advanced to Saturday's Division III title game against No. 8 Sacred Heart Cathedral. Tip-off time is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Santa Clara University. Burlingame will be making its fourth championship game appearance in the last eight years, having lost the previous three to powerhouse teams. Wednesday, the Panthers delivered an impressive performance of their own, ending the first quarter on a 13-3 run to cut an 11-point deficit to 19-18 entering the second. Burlingame post Rodrigo Puliceno was an unstoppable force in the paint, finishing with a team-high 24 points. Time and again Puliceno bulled his way against different Riordan defenders for tough leaners or turnaround jumpers from close range. Erik Chaney (13 points) hit a couple of key shots, none bigger than a 3-pointer with a second left in the first to pull Burlingame to within one point. Panthers guard Stephen Johnson (18 points) also proved clutch, draining a 3-pointer from the left corner at the third-quarter buzzer. That gave Burlingame the lead for good. The Panthers led by as many as 10 during the fourth before holding off the Crusaders at the end. Up until Johnson's shot, the game was a back-and-forth affair featuring one tie and 10 lead changes. However, Burlingame did what it's done so many times in the last decade -- it took control down the stretch. Zac Grotz beat the entire Riordan team down the floor for consecutive layups midway through the fourth. The Crusaders made things look closer than they appeared at the end. The Panthers led 68-60 with 47 seconds left when Riordan's Ivan Dorsey (27 points) hit a 3-pointer with 37 seconds remaining. The Crusaders hit another trey with three seconds to go after Burlingame missed two free throws, but they didn't have a timeout left. The Panthers didn't need to inbound the ball but did so anyway, and Johnson was fouled with 0.7 second remaining on the clock. He ended up missing both free throws and Riordan's last-gasp attempt was way off. Riordan hit just two of its final 10 shots encompassing the last four minutes of the game. Burlingame didn't have anyone who could check Dorsey, who scored 17 in the first half. But the Panthers did a better job of limiting Dorsey's chances in the final two quarters, one of the key factors in their victory.