PREP BASKETBALL : Southern Section 3-A Playoffs : Damien Proves a Bad Omen for Katella

The Katella High School basketball team somehow ended up with that empty feeling during the second half of Friday night’s Southern Section 3-A quarterfinal game against Damien at Glendora.

Inside, 6-foot 8-inch center Bob Erbst scored an awe-inspiring 23 of his 32 points in the first half.

But inside was also where Erbst, 6-4 forward Shawn Donnelly, and 6-3 forward Dave Linker each committed his fourth foul by the third quarter.

The Spartans took that as a invitation to move in, make themselves at home, and unpack some scoring in what used to be Erbst’s backyard.

After falling behind by as many as nine points in the first half, Damien forged ahead by six points at the end of the third quarter, 59-53, and raced away with an 80-68 victory.

The Spartans (21-8), the Baseline League’s third-place representative, earned the right to face Morningside in Tuesday’s semifinal.

Katella Coach Tom Danley is left with his evergreen dream intact and something to hope for--next year.

The Knights have qualified for every playoff in school history--this was No. 19--but have yet to win a Southern Section title.

Danley had hoped this was the team of destiny, since it had already advanced further than its four predecessors.

But it wasn’t to be, even though Katella outrebounded the shorter Spartans and shot an impressive 55% from the field Friday (26 of 47).

A measly 55%? The Spartans would have hung their heads at such a performance. They shot a phenomenal 68% (28 of 41), including 71% in the first half. And when you ask Coach Mike De Luc about it, he shrugs it off with the comment that his team shot 83% once this season.

Fate behaved mischievously with Katella this week; the Knights (21-5) played poorly last Tuesday and won and then they played a fine game Friday and lost.

“But that’s what happens in the playoffs,” said Danley, who should know.

“I felt we had a good effort for two-thirds of the game,” said Danley, a man who tends to budget words of praise. “I can’t slight our kids.

“It wasn’t that we had an off game. We were on and so were they. I thought they would fall off their hot shooting first, but they didn’t, and they finally broke us.”

Katella held a 40-38 lead at halftime, but the cracks began to appear in the third quarter. Spartan forward Rick Neault, a 6-3 forward who overachieved against Erbst all night, opened the quarter with a follow shot to tie the game for the first time at 40.

The pace got sizzling, and Damien demonstrated a slightly higher melting point than Katella, scoring 21 points to the Knights’ 13 in the third. The teams combined to make 13 of the last 15 shots in the quarter.

Erbst and his fouls sat out the last 3:37 of the third, and he returned a more cautious player, as both Donnelly and Linker fouled out in the final quarter.

Erbst frequently left his preferred territory on defense to pressure the Damien guards, who staged a fast-paced spread-court to wear Katella down. But Erbst’s absence allowed Neault and guard Efrem Leonard to drive to the basket, and inflate the lead.

“Neault has played three tremendous playoff games,” De Luc said. “If I said ‘great,’ ” that wouldn’t be fair to him.”

The Knights stood a chance of catching up with four minutes left when a pair of free throws by Donnelly pulled Katella to within three, 65-62.

Efrem then made two free throws, and Erbst responded with two more to trail 67-64 with 3:17 left.

But Neault made a three-point play and Damien continued its 73% free-throw shooting (24 of 33), making it impossible for the Knights to keep up.

In the last minute, the Spartans outscored Katella, 9-1, for the 12-point victory.

Linker finished with 12 points and guard Steve Bennett with 11. Leonard was the game-high scorer with 28, and Neault had 27.