On Tuesday night in Hollister, Cooper Sepulveda managed to
change the outcome, rid himself of any free-throw demons, and lift
San Benito to a 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.
HOLLISTER
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.
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“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.
He still remembers, of course.
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, which advances San Benito to Thursday’s second round against No. 7 Homestead, 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.
Fremont’s bench exploded, meanwhile, thinking they had won, and thinking they had delivered what would have been one of the more shocking losses of the season.
That is, until the raised arm of the ref was noticed by everyone.
“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.
“I thought they called it on Jordan. But he passed it and I tried to just tip it in for a shot.”
Tongue-in-cheek, Fremont head coach Miguel Castillo said the game ended “the wrong way.”
“I can’t see from where I am at, but he was close enough for the call, and that was the call,” Castillo said. “But it wasn’t that. We gave them a 16-0 lead, that’s where the game was. It wasn’t at the end there.”
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, and Carpenter agreed.
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.
“We shouldn’t lose that,” Carpenter said. “We got tentative, and we didn’t run our offense or guard the right guys very well.”
Sloppy play (18 turnovers) and poor shooting (17 of 51) by San Benito marred the remaining three quarters, while Fremont managed to chip away at a lead that seemed insurmountable just six minutes into regulation.
The Balers had a height advantage, too, but were still taking plenty of 3-pointers (6 of 21) from the perimeter instead of going inside. And 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 Tuesday. “When [Ryan Swanson] went on a streak, we just didn’t have that same sense of urgency.
“They had all the momentum and we were just trying to kill it.”
Swanson, who was quiet for nearly three quarters, made his first basket with two minutes left in the third quarter, and then made his first 3-pointer with 55 seconds remaining. Three more 3-pointers later, and the senior guard finished with 14 points and catapulted the Firebirds to within a single-digit deficit.
Fremont’s Connor Smith led all scorers with 18 points.
“We let off the gas,” Sepulveda said.
Two straight lay-ups by Quiwa (16 points) late in the fourth then closed the game to two points, 51-49, while a final-minute turnover by the Balers eventually led to Quiwa’s go-ahead 3-pointer in transition, and a brief one-point lead.
“I knew we could catch up. It was just a matter of time,” Castillo said. “But when you put yourself in a hole like that, you leave it up to situations like that.”
And trailing late in the game only to pull out a win is a situation San Benito has become accustomed to this season. They did it against Seaside, against Gilroy and against Palma.
They even did it last year against Fremont — a 48-46 victory. And they did it again to the Firebirds on Tuesday, for good measure.
“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.”
Notes:
San Benito shot 33 percent (17 of 51) from the field, 71 percent (15 of 21) from the line, and committed 18 turnovers … Fremont shot 35 percent (19 of 54) from the field, 66 percent (6 of 9) from the line, and committed 19 turnovers … The No. 10 Balers (15-10) will visit No. 7 Homestead (15-9) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal round against No. 2 Serra (19-8) … No. 15 Fremont finishes its season with a 10-15 overall record.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
FRMT 7 12 13 22 54
SANB 23 8 10 14 55
Fremont (54): R. Swanson 5-11 0-0 14, C. Smith 6-15 2-2 18, B. Clark 0-2 0-0 0, N. Quiwa 6-13 2-2 16, M. Burdett 1-2 0-0 2, M. Evien 0-1 2-2 2, A. Taamu 1-7 0-3 2, K. Smith 0-1 0-0 0, T. Gacrama 0-2 0-0 0.
Three-point goals: R. Swanson 4, C. Smith 4, B. Clark 2.
San Benito (55): J. Belton 4-10 6-8 14, C. Sepulveda 3-12 5-8 13, T. Rickard 4-9 1-1 11, H. Miskin 2-6 0-0 5, J. Tonascia 2-7 1-2 5, B. Becerra 0-1 0-0 0, E. Elayda 0-2 2-2 2, R. Henderson 2-3 0-0 5, M. Breen 0-1 0-0 0.
Three-point goals: C. Sepulveda 2, T. Rickard 2, R. Henderson 1, H. Miskin 1.
