A Last-Second Basket Gives Palos Verdes Big Win Over Leuzinger

Sophomore center Art Shell hit a 14-foot turnaround jump shot with one second remaining Thursday night to lift Palos Verdes High to a 56-55 Bay League basketball victory over visiting Leuzinger.

The dramatic shot capped a furious last-ditch comeback by the Sea Kings, who rallied from a 53-48 deficit in the final two minutes after leading most of the game.

Shell hit two free throws with 1:35 remaining and followed it with a short jumper from the side of the key on the next possession to draw the Sea Kings within one. Guard Andy Jacobson then stole the ball off the press and scored on a layup to put Palos Verdes ahead, 54-53, with 47 seconds left.

Leuzinger, though, got the ball up court to forward Adrian McCovey, who drilled a 10-foot bank shot to put the Olympians on top, 55-54, with 37 seconds left.

After calling two timeouts, the last with 13 seconds left, Palos Verdes nearly had a pass stolen before getting the ball to Shell. With his back to the basket, the son of the Raiders coach turned to the left just inside the free-throw line before putting up his winning shot.

The 6-6 Shell scored 11 of his game-high 16 points in the fourth quarter, helping Palos Verdes improve to 8-7 overall and 2-2 in league play. Another sophomore, guard Julius Coleman, added 13 points, 10 in the first quarter.

The Sea Kings led by as many as 11 points, 30-19, in the first half, but Leuzinger (8-4, 2-2) whittled away at the margin with the help of its press and led most of the fourth quarter. Center Frank Willis and forward Tyrone Meriweather each scored 15 for the Olympians.

Morningside 82, Culver City 63--Swingman Tyrone Paul led four Monarchs in double figures with 19 points in an Ocean League game at Morningside. Guards Martel Bland and Don Sanders each scored 15 and center Jeff Crowe added 12 as Morningside (13-3, 4-0) remained in first place.

Redondo 69, West Torance 55--Junior guard Jason Correa scored 22 points in 18 minutes of play and sophomore center Ryan Turner had 13 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Sea Hawks (4-11, 2-2) to an Ocean League victory at Redondo. Sophomore point guard Ted Silva added 14 points and eight assists.

Hawthorne 75, Rolling Hills 61--Hawthorne High converted seven of its last eight free-throw attempts and scored the last 10 points of the game to beat Rolling Hills Thursday night in a Bay League contest at Hawthorne.

Hawthorne Coach Richard Wells attributed the victory to his tough defense. “We led the whole game,” said Wells, whose team is 11-5 overall and 4-0 in the league. “It was just a matter of breaking away.”

Actually, Rolling Hills (8-8, 0-4) led after the first quarter, 17-13, and in the second quarter, 25-24.

Hawthorne came right back in that quarter when Trumayne Guathiers hit a layup with 3:58 left in the half, making the score 26-25 and giving the Cougars a lead they would never relinquish.

But there were anxious moments for Hawthorne. The Cougars led 40-35 after two quarters, but the margin would have been much greater if not for seven three-point shots by the Titans, four by Steve Clover. Clover, the all-time CIF Southern Section three-point field goal maker, finished with 20 points, including six treys.

Rolling Hills also did a good job of working the ball into junior forward Roger Hendrix, who scored a game-high 23 points.

In the third quarter Rolling Hills shaved the lead to 42-39 but could not close the gap on the aggressive Hawthorne defense.