Hawthorne Slips Past Leuzinger at Buzzer, 61-59, in Bay Thriller

Hawthorne High finally encountered a Bay League opponent that could play with it, and the Cougars responded to the challenge by beating Leuzinger, 61-59, at Hawthorne Wednesday night.

Senior forward Reggie Bell kept Hawthorne’s perfect league record intact at 6-0 (13-5 overall) when he grabbed an offensive rebound and sank a four-footer from in front of the basket as time expired to give the Cougars (12-5) the win.

Leuzinger fell to 9-5 overall and 3-3 in the league, but the Olympians had the ball and the momentum with 59 seconds to play and the score tied at 59.

The Olympians, who had outscored Hawthorne 8-1 in the last quarter, stalled to work for the last shot.

The ball was passed in to center Frank Willis right of the basket. Willis drove to the hoop, but his shot was blocked by a Hawthorne defender, clanked off the rim and was tipped out of bounds by Leuzinger.

Hawthorne gained possession with 11 seconds on the clock and the fans screaming.

The late-game drama was made possible by the generosity of the Hawthorne ball handlers, who committed four turnovers that led to baskets.

Hawthorne led 38-27 at the half and 58-51 after three quarters, but then played sloppily.

“Our ball handling is what did it,” Hawthorne Coach Richard Wells said. “That’s how they came back.”

There was also some inspired play by Leuzinger forward Adrian McCovey, who led all scorers with 27 points.

McCovey scored six of Leuzinger’s eight points in the fourth quarter, including a breakaway slam-dunk and two free throws that tied the score at 59 with 1:32 to go, the first tie since the opening tip-off.

Hawthorne had one timeout remaining when it gained possession with the game on the line, but Wells elected not to call a timeout.

“I figured I would let them play and go get ‘em,” Wells said.

Waymond Powell, who led Hawthorne in scoring with 15 points, took a 15-footer with time running out but missed the shot, and it was rebounded by Bell, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

“It takes action to get action,” said Bell, who came through when he had to with his first game-winning shot.

Wells said he could do without that kind of action. “I hope we don’t have to play any more like that, but I’m gad we got the experience.”