HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL : Sweetwater Gets Title, Chula Vista Gives Scare

Chula Vista came within seconds of doing what no other team in California had done this year--defeat the Sweetwater High boys’ basketball team.

Chula Vista held an eight-point lead with two minutes 47 seconds remaining, but then it was tied with seven seconds left.

That’s when Sweetwater’s Joe McDowell sank two free throws to sink Chula Vista’s hope of an upset at home against the county’s top-ranked team.

Sweetwater’s 73-71 victory in front of a standing-room-only Monday night crowd gave Sweetwater the Metro Conference championship.

The Red Devils, whose only loss was to a Seattle team in a tournament in Burnaby, Canada, are 24-1, 11-0. Sweetwater has just one game remaining against Bonita Vista before the playoffs.

Chula Vista, previously ranked 10th, fell to 19-7, 10-3.

After McDowell (21 points) made his free throws, Chula Vista zipped the ball upcourt where Shane Howell attempted a 19-foot shot from the right baseline. The ball carommed off the front of the rim and over with one second left. A Chula Vista player grabbed the rebound and was fouled, but time had expired.

Sent to the line with seven seconds left, McDowell, a senior guard, said he was thinking about all the free throws he had missed (four) earlier.

“My friend Carlos (Campbell) told me its just like in practice, McDowell said. “(He told me) take my time and take my mind off the crowd. Once I made the first one, I knew the second was going down.”

The trend of the game was such: Sweetwater would build a lead--normally four to seven points--and Chula Vista would scramble back close.

But that changed late in the third quarter when Chula Vista turned a six-point deficit into a 62-53 lead by scoring 15 unanswered points.

Carnell Penn, who led all scorers with 29 points, scored 10 in the run, including the first six. “All I was thinking about was bringing the team back,” Penn said.

Jerome Green then gave Chula Vista its first lead since the first quarter, 55-53, with an 18-footer and added a free throw eight seconds later.

The only other Spartan to score in the run was Derek Chapman, who tipped in his own missed shot with one second left in the third quarter.

At 2:47 in the fourth, Chula Vista held a 68-60 lead, but Sweetwater scored nine of the next 10 tying it, 69-69, with 1:21 left on Campbell’s tip of a McDowell missed free throw. Campbell finished with 21 points.

After Penn made a layup, Sweetwater reserve Isaac Bruce made a layup with 18 seconds left to tie it, 71-71, and set up McDowell’s heroics.

Sweetwater took the opening tip and assumed an 8-0 lead after nearly three minutes. McDowell scored the first six points and Mendel Nafarrete added a 17-foot jumper.

Chula Vista could do little right early on, but soon found its groove.