Cooper Sepulveda drains a pair of free throws with no time on
the clock to lift San Benito past Fremont 55-54 to open CCS
play
It was the end of regulation – triple-zeros on the scoreboard –
and sinking both free throws would have supplied the San Benito
Haybalers with a one-point victory over visiting Fremont in the
opening round of the Central Coast Section Division I
Championships.
But all Cooper Sepulveda could think about were the ones he
missed.
Cooper Sepulveda drains a pair of free throws with no time on the clock to lift San Benito past Fremont 55-54 to open CCS play
It was the end of regulation – triple-zeros on the scoreboard – and sinking both free throws would have supplied the San Benito Haybalers with a one-point victory over visiting Fremont in the opening round of the Central Coast Section Division I Championships.
But all Cooper Sepulveda could think about were the ones he missed.
“I just didn’t want to do what I did against Gilroy my sophomore year,” the now senior forward said. “I just didn’t want the season to end, didn’t want to stop playing.”
As a brief refresher, a sophomore Sepulveda went to the line late in the game with the Balers trailing by a single point to Gilroy two years ago. He missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation, and the Balers ended up losing by a single point to the rival Mustangs.
But on Tuesday night in Hollister, Sepulveda managed to change the outcome, rid himself of any free-throw demons, and lift San Benito to an, albeit brief, come-from-behind 55-54 victory over Fremont of Sunnyvale behind a pair of end-of-regulation free throws that supplied the Balers with the game-tying, and game-winning, points – an improbable ending to a game that seemed all but decided after the first quarter.
“I wasn’t gonna let that happen again,” said Sepulveda, who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds on Tuesday, including a 5 of 8 performance from the free-throw line.
The one-point victory included about as crazy of a finish as one game can have where the victor was leading by as many as 19 points in the first half.
Fremont grabbed its improbable lead – its first and only of the game – when Nathan Quiwa knocked down an uncontested 3-pointer in transition with 5.3 seconds remaining, giving the Firebirds a 54-53 edge.
But coming out of a timeout, San Benito’s Jordan Belton, who had a team-high 14 points, dribbled the length of the floor before running a banana curl toward the basket, eventually dishing off at the last moment to Sepulveda in the paint.
The senior forward’s shot missed, but referees, who had called the game rather tight at times, blew the whistle for a shooting foul with no time left on the clock.
“I think it was a foul, but I’m not sure sometimes in big plays late in the game,” Sepulveda said. “I wasn’t sure if they were gonna call it.”
Still, Sepulveda had to drain both free throws to earn the win over Fremont, even with thoughts of Gilroy still in his head.
“I was confident he would make both,” San Benito head coach Tracy Carpenter said. “Even if he split them, we still got overtime.”
An extra period against Fremont wasn’t something the Balers wanted, though.
A 16-0 run to start the game for San Benito later increased to a 21-2 cushion late in the first quarter, and then everything completely changed for the home team.
After outscoring the Firebirds 23-7 in the opening stanza, San Benito simply couldn’t keep pace with the Sunnyvale school for the remainder of the game. In fact, they were outscored by a 47-32 margin.
Overtime would have likely continued the downward trend.
“I think we got a little casual because we were up by so many,” said San Benito senior Tyler Rickard, who finished with 11 points and three assists. “When [Ryan Swanson] went on a streak, we just didn’t have that same sense of urgency.”
Swanson, who was quiet for nearly three quarters, made four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points to catapult the Firebirds to within a single-digit deficit.
A final-minute turnover by the Balers eventually led to Quiwa’s go-ahead 3-pointer in transition, and a brief one-point lead.
“All these games we were ahead, although not as big as this one. But I think the kids have confidence,” Carpenter said. “We haven’t seen a lot of panic.”
CCS Playoffs
Tuesday’s win over Fremont advanced San Benito to Thursday’s second-round matchup at No. 7 Homestead. However, that game took place after The Weekend Pinnacle’s press time.
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