City Section Boys’ Basketball Playoffs : Watts Secures Taft’s Victory Over San Pedro

When you are the City and state track champion in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, a couple of free throws with a basketball game on the line probably seems less stressful than for the average basketball player.

That was the scenario when Taft’s Quincy Watts stepped to the line with nine seconds left and the Toreadors clinging to a three-point lead against San Pedro in the first round of the City Section 4-A Division playoffs Friday night.

“I just tried to take the shots in stride,” said Watts, who scored 15 points. “It’s not like someone will kill me if I miss. And if I do, I still will have friends.”

Watts converted both free throws, San Pedro guard Chris Davenport missed a three-point attempt with six seconds left and Taft escaped with 48-43 win at Gardena High despite playing a streaky game.

The win was Taft’s (17-6) fourth in five games and sends the Toreadors into the second round against Fremont, a 69-64 winner over Cleveland.

Back to earth after Wednesday’s 69-68 upset of Cleveland, Taft stumbled out of the blocks against San Pedro, a team that finished below the .500 mark at 9-11.

The Toreadors made only 4 of their first 19 shots and trailed, 12-10, before streaks of 10-2 and 8-0 staked them to take a 28-20 halftime lead.

Taft’s lead swelled to 34-24 on a three-point rainbow by Tony Middleton at the 3:25 mark of the third quarter.

But Taft entered another cold spell. After Middleton’s basket, Taft scored only four points in 7 1/2 minutes.

“They just outscrapped us and played harder and we let them back into the game,” said Taft Coach Jim Woodard, whose team missed eight consecutive shots during the stretch.

San Pedro tied the score, 36-36, with 3:25 remaining, but center Lamont Koonce (10 points) countered with a power move to give Taft the lead for good. Watts made two jump shots in the next minute, and San Pedro could only come as close as 46-43.