Peninsula's Reese Morgan Shoots Down PV

Peninsula High coach Jim Quick has seen all of Reese Morgan’s great games over the past few years, but he’s never seen a first half as amazing as the one that left rival Palos Verdes stunned Tuesday night in its packed gym.

Morgan turned a one-point deficit into a nine-point halftime lead by making four consecutive 3-point shots in the last two minutes of the first half. The last one came at the buzzer, with him nearly falling out of bounds about 28 feet from the basket; it left him 6-for-10 from 3-point range and gave him 33 points by halftime.

The shooting barrage seemed to take the fight out of the Sea Kings, who never got back into it in the second half, losing the critical Bay League showdown, 72-57.

 Morgan scored seven more points early in the third quarter, giving him seven 3-point shots and 40 points. He did not score again, victimized by several strange foul calls that sent him to the bench for good, early in the fourth quarter.

By then, however, Peninsula had a 62-43 lead.  

“If it wasn’t for one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen he might have had 50 tonight (instead of 40 in 23 minutes),” Quick said. “I don’t know what to say about that first half.  

“I used to think some of the things he did playing with a brace (as a junior) after knee surgery were amazing, but what he’s doing right now is just phenomenal.” 

Ranked No. 1 in the CIF Division 2A, Peninsula improved to 18-1 overall and 3-0 in the Bay League. PV fell to 13-6 and 1-2. 

“I don’t think this means we’re obviously the best team in league,” Quick said. “There are teams in this league who can beat us. Even tonight, if my guy doesn’t go crazy in the first half, it might have been a completely different story.”  

PV coach Bob Varnell acknowledged that Morgan’s 3-point barrage changed the game at the end of the first half.  “It was definitely a momentum changer,” Varnell said. “Instead of us going in at halftime almost even, we’re down nine, and instead of having to fight from behind by a few points in the second half, we’re suddenly down 15.  

“We gave him too many good looks tonight, but he’s a great shooter and he just buried it during that little run.” 

Morgan, who brought a 26.3 scoring average into the game, scored Peninsula’s first seven points for a 7-6 lead. He finished the first quarter with 10 points, but PV took a 15-14 lead behind seven points from junior forward Matt Costa.  

Morgan scored 11 of Peninsula’s first 13 points in the second quarter, but all it got the Panthers was a 27-26 lead. A basket by Costa, who finished with 11 points, put the Sea Kings ahead, 30-29.

Then Morgan went off, hitting four 3-pointers in a row to give him a 23-point quarter and Peninsula a 41-32 halftime lead.  

“I was feeling it,” Morgan said, smiling. “I felt like the team needed a little extra boost playing here and I just wanted to get 'em started. Those last couple of minutes in the first half, I was in a zone.”

After his last 3-pointer, Morgan turned and faced the Peninsula side of the crowd and let his exhilaration show. The crowd joined him in a frenzied roar.

“I don’t know what happened there,” Morgan said, smiling. “I was trying to get the crowd into it. There was just so much adrenaline pumping right then.”

Morgan kept right on going in the early minutes of the second half, scoring on a long 3-point shot and four free throws to push Peninsula to a 50-37 lead. A steal and basket by junior Sam Borst-Smith, who had 11 points, made it 52-37 before Morgan picked up his fourth foul.

That was Peninsula guard Andrew Menard’s cue to pick up his game. He scored on a rebound basket and a pass from Morgan to make it 56-41.

With Morgan on the bench, Menard scored two more baskets, one a nifty drive to the hoop, to put Peninsula ahead, 62-43. He would finished with 14 points.

“There’s no need to panic just because Reese is out,” Menard said. “When he’s not on the floor, I know I can take the ball to the basket. We all just have to do a little more.”

Palos Verdes' senior forward Spencer Armer scored 19 points, including seven during a 9-0 run that made it 63-53 with 2:42 to play. Senior guard Matt Meskin added 12 points for the Sea Kings.