The High Schools : Performance by Versatile Lofton Almost Merited a Final Showing

Brent Lofton was inconsolable.

His mother hugged him, his El Camino Real teammates offered encouraging words, his coaches slapped his back and shook his hand. Even Fremont’s Tyrone Phillips came over to congratulate him on his un -Real performance.

Shortly after Friday’s loss at Fremont, reality had hit the 6-foot-5 senior forward harder than an intentional foul to the side of the head.

“He was a one-man team,” El Camino Real Coach Mike McNulty said as Lofton, no more than five feet away, collapsed to his knees on the floor of the Fremont gym, sobbing. “He flat carried us.”

Lofton finished with a season-high 34 points, one more than he scored in a first-round playoff win over Lincoln, but it wasn’t enough to stop Fremont from taking a 66-63 win and advancing to the City Section 3-A Division final at the Sports Arena on Friday.

Yet without Lofton, the Conquistadores would not have made it to the semifinal round. Whenever it appeared ECR needed CPR, he came through. Lofton made 13 of 21 field-goal attempts (62%), seven of eight free throws and claimed 15 rebounds. After missing his first three shots of the second half, Lofton made his final seven.

Lofton, an All-City and Times’ All-Valley selection as a junior, scored 86 points (28.7 average) in three playoff games and cleared 54 rebounds (18 a game).

In the fourth quarter, Lofton was at his best. He scored 12 of the Conquistadores’ 18 points and all but one of their field goals.

Among Lofton’s alleged shortcomings are his perimeter shooting and ballhandling skills. Against Fremont, he often brought the ball downcourt against a swarming, trapping defense, then settled into the low post.

“He brought the ball down all the time until he got too tired,” McNulty said. “He even started cramping at the end, but we had to leave him in.”

In the final two minutes, with no timeouts to spare, teammate Jason Farrell rubbed a salve on Lofton’s calves while free throws were being attempted. It helped the ache, but it did not assuage the pain that followed. El Camino Real (11-9) had never before advanced to the semifinal round, but Lofton’s sights were set on playing one more game.

“I know I played pretty well,” Lofton said. “I just wish I could have played well and made it to the Sports Arena.”

Add El Camino Real: McNulty said that he believes Lofton’s firm resolve helped bolster the play of others.

“I sort of thought that given we were a team from Woodland Hills and going into a tough situation down there, that we might be intimidated,” he said. “But he was so tough that the other guys picked up on it.”

Lofton said that he, center Jason Steele and guard Ken Findley talked at length with other players about playing at Fremont (25-3). All three live in the Fremont area, and Lofton’s mother lives only four blocks from the school.

“We got together and told them that it isn’t as bad as they hear,” Lofton said. “We said, ‘Let’s just go there and do it and we’ll be OK.’ ”

Second add El Camino Real: He is their mountain in the middle, and like Vesuvius, he sometimes blows his top.

For the second time in as many games, Steele’s temper got the best of him. For the Conquistadores, it meant the worst for them.

Steele, 6-foot-7, who drew a technical foul in the Conquistadores’ quarterfinal win over Jefferson, temporarily was ejected from the game after he exchanged elbows and harsh words with Fremont’s Phillips.

Phillips and Steele were both benched with 5:18 left in the third quarter and were not allowed to return until the start of the final period. Strange punishment but one McNulty agreed with.

“I don’t know who started it--it was mainly elbows and shoving--but the ref did the right thing,” McNulty said.

Yet losing Steele for the short term might have cost the team in the long haul. Upon returning, Steele never got back in sync.

“It definitely hurt us to have him out, and he didn’t do much after he came back,” McNulty said. “It’s been the pattern that when he comes back after an altercation, he just sort of stands there, afraid to do anything because he might get in more trouble.”

Last add El Camino Real: Normally an above-average free-throw-shooting team, El Camino Real barely cleared the break-even mark, making 15 of 29.

Actually, 50% is closer to the truth. Steele missed three free throws with 2:18 left and El Camino Real trailing by four. He was awarded another chance after a Fremont lane violation on his second attempt.

Transition decision: For Cleveland guard Adonis Jordan, it didn’t quite work out as he had hoped.

Jordan was an All-City selection as a sophomore in New York but moved to the Valley before his junior year. After relocating, he soon heard of Cleveland’s basketball program and its two trips to the City 4-A final in Bob Braswell’s two seasons as coach.

Two seasons later, the team has won only one playoff game in two years.

“It hurts a lot to come all the way out here and only win one playoff game,” said Jordan, who will attend Kansas in the fall. “But the things I got from playing here outweigh that. I learned things I never would have gotten in New York, about the sacrifice it takes, about how a team is a family-type thing. I benefited a lot, and I think it was the best thing I could have done.”

Jordan, an All-City player who missed a critical free throw in the final seconds of Cleveland’s 53-51 quarterfinal playoff loss to Fairfax on Wednesday, was perhaps the most devastated player on the team afterward, Braswell said.

“He took it harder than anybody,” Braswell said. “I just told him that he won plenty of games for us this year and that he would be very, very hard to replace next season.”