SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : His Free Throws Are Right on Time, but Upham Can’t Beat the Clock

Jon Upham sat on the bench, his head buried in his hands, trying to sort out what had happened in the last 18 seconds.

Upham, a 6-foot-4 forward, made two free throws with 18 seconds remaining in overtime to give Corona del Mar a 38-37 lead over Dos Pueblos in the Southern Section 3-A championship game Wednesday night at the Bren Center.

As he ran downcourt, Upham believed that he had scored the game’s winning points.

But that honor would belong to the man he had been covering on defense, Dos Pueblos’ Chris Gaines, who scored with two seconds remaining for a 39-38 victory.

Gaines, who scored seven of his game-high 22 points in the overtime, cut through the right side of the baseline as the clock began to wind down.

Upham followed. But when Gaines received a pass on the left wing, Upham wasn’t with him.

“They set a double pick for him on the baseline,” Upham said. “He got open and pulled up.”

The ball fell through the net and Dos Pueblos had the victory. “I felt pretty good after those free throws,” Upham said. “But you have to give Gaines credit. He hit a clutch shot.”

Corona del Mar called timeout after the shot, but officials said the game was over.

“When I turned around and looked at the clock, there were two seconds left,” Upham said. “Jeff Jackson turned and called a timeout, but the ref said time had run out.”

Upham wasn’t so sure.

“I thought we deserved a chance with two seconds left,” he said.

Official Frank Johnson, who saw Jackson’s timeout, said he raised his hands to signal the call to the scorer’s table, looked up at the overhead scoreboard and saw that time had expired.

Corona del Mar Coach Paul Orris said his team should have had a final shot.

“How many overhead scoreboards do you see in high school games?” said Orris, who questioned the time it took for Johnson to see the clock. “In that situation, you can’t tell me it takes that long after the balls goes through to call time. We had all five guys calling timeout.”

As Gaines’ teammates mobbed him at halfcourt, Upham walked back to the bench.

He had covered Gaines for most of the second half, holding him to three second-half points before the overtime. Gaines had 12 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots in the first half as the Chargers took a 22-15 lead.

“Jon had done a great job on Gaines in the second half,” Orris said. “That’s what got us back in the game. He had to work hard just to get the ball.”

Gaines worked overtime. He scored all of the Chargers’ seven points in the extra period.

It was the second consecutive year that the Sea Kings have lost in the 3-A championship game. Trabuco Hills beat them, 59-55, last season.

Upham wasn’t sure what to believe as he walked off the court.

“We worked hard all year,” he said. “It’s too bad it had to come down to this.”