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Morgan ignites Fontana Summit comeback in San Bernardino Kiwanis championship

Kenneth Morgan ignited the Summit Sky Hawks comeback 66-63 win over the Cajon Cowboys in the championship game of the San Bernardino Kiwanis Tournament by scoring 10 of his 13 points in the final two minutes. For his efforts, Morgan was selected as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Photo and Story By BOB OTTO

SAN BERNARDINO, CA – He’s Mr. Cool when the game’s on the line. Mr. Clutch when he goes up for his long-range jump shot. And he’s Mr. Reliable when his team needs him the most.

Oh how the Summit Sky Hawks needed Kenneth Morgan to live up to those lofty labels last Wednesday night at San Gorgonio High School.

And Morgan did. The senior guard and wingman hit two, three-pointers, scored on a drive, and sank a pair of free throws to pull the Sky Hawks back from the brink of defeat, and on to a 66-63 victory over the Cajon Cowboys (9-3) in the 52nd Annual San Bernardino Kiwanis Basketball Tournament.

The Sky Hawks led by as many as 11 points in the game, but found themselves trailing 51-44 about mid-way in the fourth quarter on a barrage of three-pointers by the Cowboys’ Tyree Harrison and Jamari Simmons.

But the Sky Hawks refused to fold and mounted a comeback. And with 2:38 left Morgan went to work. First he hit a drilled a deep three-pointer from the right corner to bring the Sky Hawks within, 55-52.

And twenty four seconds later, Morgan scored on a fast break lay up on a feed from Montigo Alford after his steal. Then Morgan sank two free throws to give Summit the lead for good at 56-55. And with 1:20 left, he drilled his third three pointer of the night from the right corner.

From that point on, the Sky Hawks made seven of eight free throws to nail down the win and improve their record to 12-2.

“Ken Morgan stepped up,” said Summit Head Coach, Steve Hickey. “He refused to lose and he carried us to get us back in the ball game.”

CASON HAS GREAT GAME
But Morgan wasn’t the only player to step up. Summit’s 6-foot-8 center, Dorian Cason, had another big game, scoring 14 points, pulling down 14 rebounds, and blocking five shots. For their efforts, Alford and Cason were named to the All-Tournament team, while Morgan carted away the Most Valuable Player trophy.

“All our hard work is finally allowing us to succeed and accomplish (goals) we’ve wanted to do for the last three years,” said Cason, who also made two, three pointers. “When we (fell behind) we realized we needed to play our game and get up on defense. We wanted to contain their three point shooters, but we didn’t do a great job of that.”

LONG RANGE MARKSMEN
Harrison and Simmons had huge games for the Cowboys from behind the three-point arc. Harrison, who finished with 32 points, made seven three’s, while Simmons made six in route to his 26 points. But they didn’t get much help as the rest of the team scored a combined five points.

“They are two awesome players, two great players,” said Cajon Head Coach, Randy Murray. “They made big shot after big shot after big shot. But we didn’t play with a lot of intensity early and that put us in a hole. We did climb out of it, but we made some turnovers down the stretch. This was a hard-fought game between two talented teams, but they made the plays down the stretch.”

Summit jumped out to a 10-point lead after the tip off and held a 15-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter, and led 31-26 at the half. From there on, the game went back-and-forth with Summit leading 44-42 at the end of the third quarter on Quinton Lilley’s (18 points) drive at the buzzer.

But with Harrison and Simmons finding their range, Cajon wasn’t about to quit.

“They were hitting and we knew if they kept getting those three’s, we were going to lose this game,” Morgan said. “We tightened up on them at the end to make sure they didn’t get any more three pointers.”

And his take on his late-game outbreak that saw him score 10 of his 13 points in under three minutes? “I felt like I needed to hit those three’s to help bring our team back,” he said. “So I did it.”

Summit’s road to the championship included three straight wins. They knocked off Fontana, 62-17, in the opening game; held off Redlands East Valley, 71-64; and defeated a very good Alta Loma squad, 66-56.

COACH LIKES RESULTS
“We had a great tournament,” said coach Hickey. “We are getting better as a team and we’re improving each and every game. We played some really great teams and we didn’t back down. That’s what I’m most proud of.”

SUMMIT SCORING: Alford 6, Cameron Lewis 4, Morgan 13, Darrick Arnold 2, Kalinn Jackson 7, Alex Reynolds 2, Quinton Lilley 18, Cason 14.

CAJON SCORING: Harrison 32, Simmons 26, Devon Jones 3, and Miles Poullard 2.

For other photos click link: http://sbsun.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=27367076&event=917733&CategoryID=25953