Hill Gets Cleveland Over Hump : Free Throws by Reserve Guard Ensure 45-42 Victory Over Taft

Given his druthers, Eddie Hill would rather not have to experience what took place Wednesday.

It seemed that the Cleveland High guard was in the eye of the storm every time something important happened. First, Hill was forced to make a rare start when a teammate--one bound for a Division I school--was suspended.

In the second quarter, Hill picked up his first foul only to learn that a scorekeeping error listed his uniform number incorrectly--resulting in a technical foul. Hill also botched a breakaway layup in the second quarter.

The storm didn’t abate for a while, either. Hill made 3 of 4 field-goal attempts to open the third quarter, then missed his next 3 shots. But with the game up for grabs, Hill made 4 of 4 free throws in the last 41 seconds to seal a 45-42 win over upstart Taft in a North Valley League game at Taft.

“Oh, man,” Hill said, “Another one like this? I’d rather be up by 20 any day.”

Cleveland led, 41-39, with 41 seconds to play when Hill was fouled by Dedan Thomas. After a Taft timeout, Hill nailed both ends of the 1-and-1 opportunity.

Taft’s Brooklyn McLinn answered with a 3-point bomb with 22 seconds left, slicing the margin to 43-42. Cleveland’s Tim Bowen was fouled by Thomas after the ensuing inbounds pass, but Bowen’s first free throw missed badly off the front of the rim. Centers Warren Harrell of Cleveland and Jason Deyoe of Taft followed with elbows flying.

“Nobody wanted that rebound more than I did right then,” said Harrell, who recovered and passed the ball through traffic to Hill near midcourt. Hill was fouled by Thomas with 2 seconds remaining and made both free throws.

Hill, a junior, started in place of Adonis Jordan--who was suspended for the game after he violated an unspecified team rule--and responded with a game-high 14 points.

Hill, normally a shooting guard, primarily played point and piloted Cleveland through the rough waters of Taft’s spread attack.

Taft (14-3, 4-2 in league play) slowed the pace considerably by spreading the floor. The Cavaliers (16-2, 6-0) were forced into a halfcourt game and never established the kind of pace that had buried so many opponents. But it worked both ways--McLinn’s 3-point basket accounted for all of Taft’s fourth-quarter points.

Thomas averages 22.5 points a game in league play, but he only managed 8 points--all in the first half.

“We knew they’d be tough, but not this tough,” Hill said of Taft, which cost the Cavaliers a league title last season in a 69-68 upset in the regular-season finale. “But if that’s what has to be done to win, we’ll do it.”