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.
