Sagehens win their fourth title in men's basketball, but it's far from
easy.
Number Four, the
Hard Way
By Joe Curley
'99
Catcalls and
screeches gave way to the uneasy grumble an expectant home crowd makes when it
sees its big night turn into a nightmare. Brandon Duncan, the 6-foot-9 junior
for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, converted both free throws, silencing the
Pomona-Pitzer crowd. His only points of the night pushed the CMS lead to seven,
59-52. With just 4:09 to play in the season, the Stags seemed poised to deny
their cross-campus rivals the chance to clinch their fourth straight SCIAC title
outright.
Pomona-Pitzer
fans could be forgiven their high expectations. The Sagehens have been the
dominant force in SCIAC men's basketball since former coach Gregg Popovich, now
vice president and head coach of the 1999 NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, turned
the program around from 1979 to 1988. The 1986 SCIAC title "Poppo" provided was
the Sagehens' first since 1918, 45 years before Pitzer opened its doors. Former
assistant Charles Katsiaficas built a hoops renaissance on the Popovich recovery
project. Known for his professionalism and the twang of his northern New England
accent, the diminutive "Coach Kat" has created an aura of invincibility--and
three straight conference titles--through consistency and flexibility.
"Charlie does a
great job," said Ken Scalmanini, in his second year at the helm of the rival
Stags. "He changes what he does depending on his personnel from year to year.
This year they were a lot of different from when I first came into the SCIAC.
That's a good program."
The first two
teams of Katsiaficas' title streak were half-court teams that had size and
patience. After the size graduated, the coach turned up the juice and prodded
his charges to play up-tempo. With a title this year, Katsiaficas could win
back-to-back titles with each style of play.
This year, the
tallest Hen, 6-foot-5 Jeremiah Martin, was also the star. An athletic, skillful
scorer, the junior was supported by a dependable frontcourt--junior Travis Bray
and senior Jeff Herzog. Despite losing two top guards to graduation, the
Sagehens led the conference in scoring (75.9 ppg) behind juniors Dylan Nachand
and Tad DeWald, and Katsiaficas' matchup-oriented, motion offense.
After both
Pomona-Pitzer and CMS had jumped out to 6-0 starts in the SCIAC, the Stags had
drawn first blood in the rivalry with a 62-53 win three weeks earlier across the
street at Ducey Gymnasium.
"Over there, we
didn't feel like we played a good ballgame," said Katsiaficas. "And that's not
sour grapes, they flat-out beat us. As I tell our guys, nine out of 10 times if
you don't play well, it's because of what the other team did."
In fact, CMS was
on a winning streak that would eventually tie a school record at 14 games. With
a loss at the University of LaVerne, the Hens had fallen two full games
behind.
"At that point I
thought our guys could go one of two ways," said Katsiaficas. "I saw a lot of
faces in our practice huddles that said, 'This thing's over; we have no shot.'
We talked about it as a group and it would have been easy to pack it in. It's
hard to decide to go lay it on the line every night when you're not sure what
it's for. It was a critical point in the season, and I'm proud of the decision
they made."
The Hens went on
to grind out two crucial away wins in a physical two-point battle over Whittier
College and a 94-90 overtime victory at Redlands, a game in which the
titleholders overcame a 23-point first-half deficit. In the meantime, CMS
faltered with a home loss to LaVerne and away losses to Occidental and Cal
Lutheran.
The race reached
a boiling point on the last day of the season, February 24, when the Stags made
the traditional walk down Sixth Street from Ducey Gymnasium to Voekel Gymnasium.
Pomona-Pitzer had clinched a share of their fourth consecutive conference title
by virtue of a 92-71 romp at Cal Lutheran. In order to force an on-campus
playoff, CMS would need its first win at Voekel since the Stags clinched their
last SCIAC title on the final day of the 1996 season.
The Stags jumped
ahead behind the post play of 6-11 center Hans Meyer, who scored the first seven
CMS points of the evening, helping them to a 13-5 lead. Fed by an assortment of
lobs, entry passes and old-fashioned offensive boards, Meyer put together the
best game of his young collegiate career.
The Hens stayed
in the game behind their own star. Over a seven-minute span early in the game,
Martin was responsible for 12 of the Hens 14 points.
Up 32-30 at the
intermission, CMS slowly took control of the game in the second half. Duncan's
two freebies put them up seven with four minutes to play and Voekel was hushed
for the first time all night.
"Down seven with
three minutes to go or so, it would have been easy for the guys to pack one in
and say 'we'll get 'em on Saturday night (in the playoff),'" said Katsiaficas.
Martin got the
hosts to within five with a layup, but the next time down the floor he missed
both ends of a two-shot foul, finally giving Stag fans ammunition with which to
chide him.
It was then that
Bray made the first of two big plays, staying with the rebound and diving out of
bounds to save it to an open Hen. Given a second chance, Martin delivered,
converting a layup and a foul shot to cut the gap to 60-57 with 2:53 to
play.
Bray, a laid-back
econ major from Oceanside, cut his chin saving the rebound. Pomona-Pitzer
trainer Kirk Jones went to work and got the Hens' second-leading scorer back in
the fray before another point was scored. With 1:14 remaining, Bray reentered
the game and sent shock waves through the building by nipping in to steal an
inbounds pass at half court. It was so quick that none of the other nine players
on the court reacted. Bray was off for the easy lay-in.
"I've never done
anything like that before," said Bray. "Not at such a big moment."
"It's funny how
plays like that, little things, can just change the whole complexion of the
game," said Katsiaficas. "Everything from the energy of the crowd, to mindset of
the play, is changed. That was the biggest play of the game."
Down a point with
40 seconds to play, Katsiaficas told his team they were right where they wanted
to be. "He just designed a play, told us that it was going to work, that we were
going to score and to get back on defense to make sure we stopped them," said
Bray.
Bray and DeWald
combined on another steal, the third down the stretch, and Martin muscled in on
Meyer for the deciding points with 27 seconds left. "The shot that I took at the
end of the game is a shot I take every day in practice and all the time in
games," said Martin. "So, at the end of the game, why try to go for something
risky? Go with what you're strong at. It doesn't matter to me that he's
6-foot-11. I'm quicker than most posts out here, so I'm able to adjust and make
the right move at the right situation."
As routine as it
was for Martin, it was still a tough shot with the game on the line. He backed
in on Meyer just below the high post, and buried a fall-away jump-hook from 15
feet. A Stag reply bounced high off the rim and out of bounds as time ran
out.
It was over. The
Sagehens had won it, 61-60. For Martin, who finished with 33 of Pomona-Pitzer's
61 points, it was the perfect close to a great season.
"He had to take
tough shots, and he hit most of them," said Meyer. "I tried to push him around
but I've always had trouble with guys who are smaller and stronger. He gave me
that type of difficulty."
Outside the Hens'
locker room, parents snapped pictures while the champions--title
retained--mugged for the cameras and munched on homemade cookies.
Herzog, the first
Pomona player ever to win championships in every season of his college career,
wore the freshly snipped twine from the south basket around his neck like a
dusty diamond necklace. He kept lowering the feathered head of Cecil, the
Sagehen mascot, around Martin's head for snapshots.
"I've got no part
in this," smiled Katsiaficas wryly, beaming with pride.
"This basketball
stuff is fun; I do it for a living and I love it," he told his team a few
minutes later. "But you guys are going to move on to much more important things.
Remember--I don't care how bad it looks--to hang in there, plough forward. In
your life, you're going to fail as much as you succeed."
"Hey," he added.
"I'm so proud of you guys right now I could just start bawling."
Joe Curley '99
received his master's degree in journalism from Boston University in
May.
