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Sports

Mission Bay Ends Mount Miguel's Dream of a Repeat

Failure to hit from the outside over the Bucs' zone results in a 60-54 loss in the CIF semifinals.

The goal of defending its CIF Division III boys basketball title came up one game short Wednesday night for third-seeded Mount Miguel, which fell 60-54 at second-seeded Mission Bay in a San Diego Section semifinal matchup.

Buccaneers center C.J. Rayford picked up the slack when standout teammate Jimmie Elder-Chapman missed most of the first half after collecting his third foul moments into the second quarter. Rayford finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, along with being a defensive presence inside.

The absence of Elder-Chapman forced Mission Bay into zone coverage, but Mount Miguel was unable to connect on its outside shots to slowly slip behind.

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"Mission Bay would've switched to a zone eventually anyway," said Matadors coach Jay Rowlett. "But we couldn't get going with our shots until the second half."

A 14-point deficit was trimmed to seven with 3:12 remaining on a pair of 3-pointers by Mohammad Abdi, who finished with 14 points and nine boards in his best effort of the season.

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"Mission Bay's zone slowed us down," said Abdi, a senior headed for Grossmont College next season. "We're not very offensive against a zone."

Marcus Booker also drained his first four shots of the fourth quarter, including a pair of triples, to register 10 of his 17 points to start the rally from a 47-33 deficit.

Matadors center Thomas Butler paced all scorers with 18 points, while Cory Littleton grabbed 15 boards, helping Mount Miguel stay close by matching Mission Bay's 35 rebounds.

Mount Miguel, the Grossmont Valley League co-champion, finished the season with a 22-8 record.

 Special to Lemon Grove Patch from East County Sports.com

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