Overdue Title Offers Glimpse Into Future for Taft, 92-60 : Prep basketball: Toreadors trounce Cleveland behind two sophomores to win first outright league championship in 12 years.

Talk about the best of both worlds. Not only did Taft High win its first outright league championship in boys’ basketball in 12 years Wednesday, the team took a long look at its future.

The present, perhaps, is prologue. Sophomores Johnny Williams and Lamont Magee combined for 36 points and Taft scored a head-spinning 39 points in the fourth quarter in a 92-60 victory over host Cleveland in a North Valley League game.

The victory gave Taft (16-4, 8-1 in league play) its first outright league title since 1979-80. The Toreadors shared a league championship in 1981-82.

Giving greater meaning to the title is the fact that it comes at the expense of Cleveland, which had won or shared the previous four league championships.

“It got frustrating over the years to have good teams that always ended up playing for third place,” Taft Coach Jim Woodard said. “Cleveland always had three or four transfers coming in every year.”

The victory might have marked a transfer of power. Taft buried Cleveland under a fourth-quarter barrage that could rank with the best in school history. The Toreadors made their first 12 shots from the field to obliterate Cleveland’s short-lived comeback bid, and Magee led the attack.

The 6-foot guard had the Taft bench on its feet with every three-point shot attempt in the quarter, and Magee made all three. He scored 15 points in the quarter on six-of-seven shooting.

Williams, a 6-foot-7 starter at center, scored on an alley-oop play to open the scoring in the quarter and finished with a team-high 19 points.

“We have some goood sophomores,” said senior guard Casey Sheahan, who had 12 points. “They have big futures, no doubt.”

Taft seemed in a hurry to make the future, in terms of a league title, materialize by the third quarter. The Toreadors rolled to a 47-22 lead with 4 minutes 37 seconds remaining in the quarter, but Cleveland made a final stand.

The Cavaliers (7-13, 4-4) ripped off a 16-4 run to close within 51-38 and trailed by 15 points entering the fourth quarter. Jeremy DeGracia (15 points) made a three-point basket for Cleveland to open the period, which seemed only to serve as a Taft wake-up call.

Williams and Magee combined to score Taft’s first 13 points of the quarter as the Toreadors answered with a remarkable 24-10 run. Taft rang up 21 points in the first 3:59 of the quarter.

The Toreadors connected on 15 of 20 shots from the field in the quarter and didn’t miss until 1:46 remained. The victory was particularly sweet for Woodard, who took his team to a co-championship his first season at Taft, in 1981-82.

“It’s really been on his mind,” Sheahan said. “You could see it in his eyes after we beat Kennedy (on Tuesday) to clinch a tie. I feel good for him.”

Taft’s diamond-and-one defense held Shawn Bankhead to 13 points. Senior guard Terrayne Evans scored 22 points to lead Cleveland.

Magee ended the game with a punctuation mark. After a scramble for a rebound underneath the Taft basket, a teammate kicked the ball out to Magee at the three-point stripe. With the Taft bench standing, Magee tossed in a three-point rainbow with two seconds left.

Seventeen points marked a career high for Magee, who has played all season behind Sheahan.

“I love Casey,” Magee said. “He’s my best friend and I like watching him play. Today was just my turn.”

The same could be true for the next two years.