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Alemany Fades in Late Going of 65-57 Loss

TIMES STAFF WRITER

After an interminable 1 1/2 months of playing on the road, Alemany High redefined homesick Wednesday night.

Performing at home for the first time this season, Alemany scored a sickly eight points in the fourth quarter, allowing St. Bernard to swipe a 65-57 victory in a Mission League basketball game.

There was electricity in the air. Nerve endings jangled. A nervous ending was jumbled.

“I think we were a little bit nervous,” Coach Kurt Keller said. “After 13 games on the road, we finally have a home game and . . . .”

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Keller’s voice tailed off as quickly as his team did in crunch time.

Alemany (7-7, 1-1 in league play) held a 49-48 lead entering the fourth quarter, then seemed to have stolen the momentum when Brian McConnell scored inside, was fouled, and tossed in a free throw for a 52-48 lead with 7 minutes 32 seconds left.

Yet St. Bernard (9-7, 1-0) scored 10 unanswered points to take a 58-52 lead. Alemany turned the ball over twice in that stretch and was zero of five from the field.

“I don’t know what it was,” said Alemany swingman Richard Dice, who was held to 15 points, nine under his average. “We didn’t adjust to playing at home, I guess.”

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Alemany’s Doug Tait (13 points) ended the bleeding with a three-point basket with 3:48 left, cutting the deficit to 58-55, but it was the last three-point basket the perimeter-happy Indians would record.

Alemany misfired on its last five three-point attempts, and St. Bernard’s decision to spread the floor and operate out of a semi-stall paid off when Parker Jenkins (11 points) scored inside to give the Vikings a 62-57 lead with 48 seconds left.

A garbage can was upended and trash spilled onto the floor on the Indians’ next possession, interrupting play and typifying their trouble from long range: Alemany converted eight of 25 three-point attempts.

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After trailing, 37-32, at halftime, Alemany took a 49-46 lead with 47 seconds left in the third quarter. Keller was given a technical foul for high-decibel protestation, however, and St. Bernard converted two free throws to cut the Indians’ lead to 49-48 entering the fourth quarter.

“They wouldn’t make the three-second call,” Keller said. “Their big guys were just camping out in there.”

Color Alemany displeased, even in its home camp.

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