Sailors see it unravel in double OT

Barry Faulkner

VENTURA -- As hard as the Newport Harbor High boys basketball team

played, the toughest task Friday night fell upon Sailors Coach Larry

Hirst.

For it was Hirst who had to summon some postgame encouragement to

soften the blow of a 74-73 double-overtime loss at Buena in the first

round of the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA Playoffs.

Consolation won’t likely come soon for the Sailor players,

however, after they saw a six-point lead erased in the final minute

of regulation.

Newport Harbor will also have all off-season to lament four

would-be game-winning shots that didn’t fall.

The first was a 17-footer before the regulation horn.

The second and third came near the end of the first four-minute

extra session.

The final shot at salvation, a desperation heave from

three-quarter court, bounced off the rim as the Bulldog student

rooters poured on to the “Doghouse” floor, smearing blue and black

body paint all over the white uniforms of their heroes.

The difference, in the second overtime, were two free throws by

Buena junior reserve guard Tommy Young with two seconds left.

Young, who nailed a 24-foot three-pointer, at the end of

regulation to pull the hosts (17-10) even, was fouled as the Bulldogs

tried to inbound with two ticks left.

He lay on the floor for a few seconds, burying his face in the

floor, before stepping to the stripe and burying the Tars.

“He hasn’t shot that many free throws, because he’s a spot-up

shooter with NBA range,” Buena Coach Craig Williams said. They were

the only two free throws of the game for Young, who finished with 15

points and now has 59 in the last three games, all off the bench.

It was a gut-wrenching end for the Sailors (16-10), particularly

seniors Nedim Pajevic, Chase Cameron and Chad Rorden, who all, like

the entire Newport rotation, distinguished themselves in the finale.

“I thought everyone played well,” Hirst said. “Our seniors came

out focused and we had some underclassmen step up. The worst part of

this job is looking at a bunch of kids who dedicated four years to be

the best they could be, and knowing, for them, it’s over.”

This one seemed as if it would never end, as the two teams battled

relentlessly for six periods.

Buena led after the first quarter, 14-13, but Harbor rallied for a

31-30 halftime lead.

A 9-3 Sailor run late in the third quarter helped them take a

44-41 lead into the fourth period and four quick points upped the

advantage to 48-41.

With the Tars up, 59-53, a three-point play by 6-foot-5, 295-pound

senior center J. D. Probasco sparked a frenetic comeback to force

overtime.

Pajevic, who fouled out with 1:07 left in the second overtime,

finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

Cameron posted a season-high 16 points, while freshman Todd

Lowenthal had a career-high 13 and junior Brett Lowenthal added 10.

Probasco, whose bulk and aggressiveness proved a difficult

matchup, had a team-high 18 points.

Buena got seven of its 25 field goals on putbacks to overcome

subpar perimeter shooting (5 of 14 beyond the arc).

Newport Harbor rallied from five points down in the first overtime

as Pajevic hit his only three-pointer with 2:26 left, Todd Lowenthal

drilled a 10-foot pull-up jumper and Cameron netted two free throws

with 1:04 left.

Buena opened the second overtime with a Probasco free throw, which

Rorden answered 36 seconds later for another deadlock.

Todd Lowenthal answered a follow shot by the Bulldogs with a

10-footer after his own offensive rebound with 2:13 left.

Taylor Young, a sophomore called up from the junior varsity,

scored on a putback with 54 seconds remaining to put the Sailors up,

73-72.

Buena turned it over on the ensuing possession, but rebounded a

Sailor miss with 12 seconds left.

Buena called timeout with 10 ticks left and had the ball inside

when a Newport defender knocked it out of bounds to set up the

fateful foul.