Foothill’s Final Shot in Overtime Ousts Newport Harbor

After blowing a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Foothill High School basketball team heard only one question after its 79-77 overtime victory over Newport Harbor in a Division III-AA second-round playoff game Tuesday night.

Who made the game-winning shot?

Was it Sean Amos, who hit an off-balance 10-footer at the end of regulation, only to watch the officials say it came after the buzzer?

Or was it Nick Konopisos, who sank a baseline layup with two seconds left in overtime?

Foothill Coach Jim Reames had a pretty good idea.

“I thought Amos’ shot was good,” he said.

Newport Harbor Coach Bob Serven wasn’t so sure.

“It was so, so close,” Serven said. “Maybe Amos’ should have counted, because Foothill won at the last second anyway.”

In doing so, Foothill (15-11) advanced to Friday night’s quarterfinals against Estancia, a 73-41 winner over Paso Robles. Newport Harbor ended the season 15-12.

“We played Estancia in the La Quinta tournament earlier this season and (the Eagles) beat us by 12,” Reames said. “They have some big guys inside.”

Estancia will have its hands full with Konopisos, a 6-foot-7 center who finished with a career-high 31 points. He had a four-inch height advantage over Newport Harbor’s tallest player, Justin McIntee.

Foothill’s height advantage and Amos’ quickness caused Newport Harbor fits most of the game. Amos finished with 21 points and eight rebounds. Konopisos made his first eight shots and was 13-of-14 from the field.

But Konopisos struggled at the free-throw line (five of 10), as did the entire team (11 of 19 in the fourth quarter).

It nearly cost it the game.

Newport Harbor trailed, 62-49, with 4 minutes 22 seconds left to play. But the Sailors came back, rebounding Foothill’s missed foul shots and getting the ball to guard Huy Nguyen.

Nguyen, a 5-11 senior, made three three-pointers and scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter.

“Nguyen was making NBA three-pointers out there,” Reames said. “During the timeout (between regulation and overtime) I told our guys that defending Nguyen was the key. He’s a hell of a player.”

The Sailors made five of seven three-pointers in the final quarter, including one by Mike Stipe with 34 seconds left in regulation that tied the score, 73-73.

Stipe stole a pass intended for Amos with six seconds left, but his full-court pass went out of bounds with two seconds left.

Amos then took a fullcourt pass on the inbounds, and banked in the jumper. Fans stormed the court and the Foothill players celebrated, but the officials disallowed the shot.