Olympian hoop men get second chance, reach regional semifinals

One team was conspicuously absent from Tuesday’s Metro Conference winter sports awards at Montgomery High School. The Olympian High School boys basketball team had a good reason, however.

The Eagles were playing in the semifinal round of the Southern California Division V regional playoffs in Riverside County.

Olympian finished its season of plenty with a 30-4 record following its 70-53 loss to top-seeded Notre Dame.

The Eagles shouldn’t be too downcast. They entered the regional playoffs seeded 12th.

Nobody expected them to get as far as they did except perhaps themselves.

Olympian head coach Marty Ellis cited his team’s lack of “big game” experience as the defining factor in the Eagles’ 69-53 loss to top-seeded Brawley in this year’s San Diego Section Division IV championship game, played March 3 at the University of San Diego.

Olympian certainly got its share of experience in its three regional playoff games.

Ellis’s crew grew up quickly.

Despite finishing second in the section finals, the Eagles gained admission to the regional playoffs. However, all their games would be played on the road.

Olympian made the most of its second chance by recording upset wins over fifth-seeded Desert Christian Academy (49-46 on March 8) and fourth-seeded Brawley (59-51 in overtime last Saturday, March 11) to advance to Tuesday’s regional semifinal match.

It is the farthest that any boys basketball team from the east side Chula Vista school has advanced.

Desert Christian Academy, a member of the Southern Section’s 5A division, is located in Bermuda Dunes in Riverside County near the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Down 37-27 after three quarters, the Eagles rode the surge of a 22-9 fourth quarter explosion to record the major comeback victory.

Olympian, this year’s South Bay League champion, scored its 29th win of the season while the Conquerors, who finished 12-0 in the Victory League standings, finished their season 22-6.

Next came a rematch against section champion Brawley (27-8) on the Wildcats’ home court. The Eagles outscored the Imperial Valley League champions 10-2 in overtime after the teams deadlocked at 49 points in regulation.

Notre Dame led 34-21 at halftime in Tuesday’s regional semifinal. The Titans, this year’s Ambassador League champions, improved to 31-3 with the win. They will meet second-seeded Rolling Hills Prep in Saturday’s regional championship game.

The state championship game is March 24.

Going for gold
A total of six Metro Conference teams qualified to compete in section championship games — four in soccer and two in basketball. Four conference teams qualified to compete in the Southern California regionals — two each in soccer and basketball.

The Montgomery High School boys soccer team captured second place in its division at the state regional finals while the Olympian boys basketball team advanced as far as this year’s regional semifinals.

They are the elite place-finishers among the many student-athletes in the conference, according to Sweetwater district athletics coordinator Joe Heinz, who praised the efforts of coaches, administrators and parents for helping them fulfill their dreams.

He said the increasing number of South County teams represented in postseason play is a reflection of the recently revised playoff structure.

“This is validation that the power ranking system works,” he said. “It makes for competitive playoffs. The Metro Conference and South County is the beneficiary of that. We’re proud of all these guys and what they accomplished.”

The new playoff system has allowed many schools to experience postseason success for the first time and an opportunity to thrive.