DIVISIONS II-AA, II-A GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : San Clemente Defeats Loara, 58-53, After Mix-Up at Free-Throw Line

San Clemente’s Emily Janowicz rebounded a missed free throw and scored with 38 seconds left in the game to help the San Clemente girls’ basketball team beat Loara, 58-53, in a II-AA first-round playoff game Saturday night at Loara High School.

San Clemente advanced in an odd manner, though.

San Clemente’s Aimee Perkowski was fouled with 38 seconds remaining and game officials indicated she would be shooting two free throws. But after Perkowski missed her first free throw, Janowicz, a reserve senior post who had played sparingly, moved in to the middle of the key and scored off the miss to break a 53-53 tie.

“I thought, ‘Oh no, it’s an air ball,’ ” Janowicz said of her only points of the game. “Usually when I get a shot like that I shoot an air ball. I’m so shocked (that I made it).”

On their next possession, the Saxons turned the ball over with 28 seconds remaining. At that point game officials discovered their slip up on Perkowski’s second free throw attempt. And after several minutes of discussion, they decided to let Perkowski attempt her second free throw, which she made to give San Clemente a 56-53 lead.

“We’re going to look into the rules,” Loara Coach Lynn Parish said. “We may possibly file a protest. But the bottom line is we lost the game all by ourselves.

“We were up by 12 (points) and let them back in the game. We let the momentum slip away in the fourth quarter.”

Actually, San Clemente rallied from a 27-14 deficit with 2 minutes 20 seconds left in the first half, and performance of 30 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots by Loara’s Tracy Titus.

But it was the Tritons’ miscues that fueled their problems earlier. San Clemente shot 29% in the first half, making nine of 31 field-goal attempts. Loara shot 45% in the half and led, 27-21, at the intermission.

San Clemente outscored the Saxons, 36-26, in the second half and was led by Dana Netherby, who scored 17 points and Michelle MacIntyre, who added 13 points.