Hayward boys fall just short in semifinal loss to Rocklin

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 12, 2009 | by Michael Bower

ROCKLIN -- Davion Berry slammed his fist on the court and pulled his jersey over his face as the Rocklin High fans stormed the court and celebrated their team's 50-49 victory over Hayward on Thursday night in a Northern California Division II boys basketball semifinal game.

This one is going to be tough to swallow for the senior guard and the No. 3 Farmers, who put forth one of their best efforts of the season but came up just short of upsetting No. 2 Rocklin (31-2) in the final seconds of a thrilling game.

The Farmers (21-9) trailed nearly the entire contest and by as many as 10 points late in the third quarter but stormed back and grabbed a 49-48 lead on a Keith Martin free throw with 1:29 to go. It was Hayward's first lead since holding an 8-7 advantage with four minutes left in the first quarter.

But a free throw by the Thunders' Jackson Cummings with 1:21 to go tied the game 49-49. Two possessions later, Rocklin went ahead 50- 49 when Brendan Lane hit the first of two free throws with 12.1 seconds left.

Lane, a 6-foot-10 forward headed to UCLA next year, missed the second free throw. Hayward got the rebound and Berry raced up the court and drew a blocking foul in the paint with 3.9 seconds to go and his team down by one.

But both of the free throws by Berry rattled around the cylinder and Rocklin was able to escape with the one-point victory.

"I can go home and sleep tonight because Davion got the ball and I wouldn't want anybody else to be at that free throw line," Farmers coach Iman Mattox said. "I believe in him and the team believes in him."

The Farmers were done in by a 7-for-14 effort from the free- throw line, but nobody can say they didn't leave it all on the court in their final game of the season.

"The kids gave a tremendous amount of effort in the second half and all of them fought hard tonight," Mattox said. "It's just sad that we came up short tonight."

Hayward had its hands full with Rocklin's Lane, who finished with a game-high 20 points and had eight blocks. But Hayward's Demico Jackson and Martin put the clamps on Lane in the fourth quarter, holding him to just three points.

The Farmers went on a 8-3 run to open the final period. Hayward held Rocklin without a basket for the first 3 minutes, 40 seconds of the quarter to spur the comeback.

Berry capped an illustrious career at Hayward with a team-high 16 points. Senior Imani Stockstill, who hit a flurry of 3-pointers in the third quarter to keep Hayward close, finished with 15 points. Senior Jabreel Nasir had nine points and Martin added eight points.

"It's been an honor to coach Davion and Keith and all the seniors," Mattox said. "There are no words I can say right now to make them feel better, but it was an honor to coach this group."

Rocklin advances to the NorCal championship game on Saturday at Arco Arena.

Contact Michael Bower at mbower@bayareanewsgroup.com.