Fremont Gains Final After Late Rally Stops El Camino Real, 66-63

When a guy has the hot hand, he’ll do anything to get the ball. Wave his arms over his head, scream at his teammates . . . or tear it right out of an opponent’s grasp.

Friday night, Fremont High junior Adrian McCovey opted for the latter, which was just his way of saying, “Stand back, it’s my turn. Please pass the leather.”

McCovey made three consecutive three-point shots in the fourth quarter as Fremont rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to defeat El Camino Real, 66-63, in a City Section 3-A Division semifinal playoff game at Fremont.

McCovey averaged 5.2 points this season as a reserve off-guard. Friday night, when it was crunch time, he was Fremont’s on-guard.

“I guess I’ve been saving it,” McCovey cracked.

El Camino Real never trailed until midway through the fourth quarter, when the cracks started to show. McCovey, who finished with 11 points, all in the fourth quarter, drilled a three-point basket with 5:30 left and was fouled in the process. He converted the free throw to cut a six-point El Camino Real lead to 53-51.

McCovey was just getting warmed up. On Fremont’s next possession, he made another three-pointer to hand the team its first lead of the game, 54-53. And, convinced that he had found the touch to put Fremont in the City final, he ripped the ball out of Conquistadore guard Jason Farrell’s arms when the latter was a little slow in surrendering the ball after an El Camino Real turnover on its next possession.

“We’re always told to be aggressive,” McCovey said. “You have to want the ball.”

You want it? You got it.

Ten seconds later, McCovey nailed another three-point bomb to give Fremont a 57-54 lead with 4:10 left.

“I always give him three shots,” Fremont Coach Sam Sullivan said. “I know after three shots whether he’s on or not. He gets three shots and I don’t say a word. If he misses, he’s gone.”

And three shots was all McCovey needed to give top-seeded Fremont (25-3) its 15th consecutive win.

“We were doing fine until everybody got hot from three-point range,” El Camino Real Coach Mike McNulty said. “That four-point play just absolutely killed us, momentum-wise.”

El Camino Real (11-9) played perhaps as well as it could against Fremont for 3 1/2 quarters. Led by senior forward Brent Lofton’s game-high 34 points and 15 rebounds, the Conquistadores jumped to a 25-11 lead midway through the second quarter and held a 30-26 lead at the half.

Without Lofton, El Camino Real may as well have stayed home. He often brought the ball downcourt, set up the offense, and then switched into the low post and pounded bodies inside. It was a chiropractor’s nightmare for Sullivan.

“That guy wanted it so bad, he did everything in his power to win this game,” Sullivan said of Lofton. “He carried them on his back all game, but I think he just got too tired.”

Lofton keyed El Camino Real’s first-half surge with 16 points. Fremont was horrid during that span, making only nine of 30 field-goal attempts.

Yet Sullivan said the deficit wasn’t a curse, but more like a comfort zone.

“I knew that after playing that terribly and only trailing by four that we’d be OK,” Sullivan said. “No way we play the whole game like that.”

Yet behind Lofton, El Camino Real appeared poised to pull off the upset of the year in the 3-A playoffs.

Lofton, who will attend Utah State in the fall, scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and gave El Camino Real a 51-47 lead on a jump shot with 5:37 left. Senior center Jason Steele made both ends of a one-and-one with 5:37 remaining to give the Conquistadores a 53-47 lead. Steele made only two of 10 free throws in the game, so it appeared the Conquistadores’ chances were again on the upswing.

But McCovey’s three three-pointers keyed a 13-1 run that sent El Camino Real reeling.

With a six-point lead and two minutes left, McCovey and a teammate showed some hot moves on the hardwood, too. The pair went into a prearranged victory dance, something choreographed just in case something like this happened.

Next week, Fremont moves its act to the big dance floor--the Sports Arena.