Clutch Pass by Schneider Hands Taft 74-72 Victory

Larry Schneider wiped his brow with the back of his hand and chugged a long, cool drink. Relief was clearly etched in his face.

Almost as prominently as his smile.

Schneider went from goat to hero as Taft High held off San Pedro, 74-72, in the first round of the City Section 4-A Division basketball playoffs Wednesday night at Taft.

With Taft holding the ball near midcourt and leading by three points in the final minute, Schneider threw away an inbounds pass, allowing San Pedro’s Raymond Tutt to nail a three-point basket to tie the score, 72-72, with 18 seconds remaining.

The play called for Schneider to lob the ball to senior guard Casey Sheahan, who scored a game-high 31 points. The pass was intercepted, however, and Tutt (27 points) made Taft pay. At least temporarily.

“That play has worked all year long,” Taft Coach Jim Woodard said of the lob to Sheahan. “We’ve missed a few shots off it, but we’ve always gotten a shot off.”

Schneider atoned, however.

After Miguel Carrillo’s 10-foot jump shot was blocked out of bounds with four seconds left, Taft (18-4) called time out. Schneider, standing at the Taft baseline, held the ball high overhead as the official waved his hand as the seconds ticked off.

Five, four, three, two, one, uh, one- half . . . . Adam James finally appeared alone under the hoop.

“I was counting in my head,” Schneider said. “I was about to call time when Adam was there all by himself.”

Schneider hit James with the pass, and James--who scored only four points--hit the shot with two seconds to play.

Taft trailed, 64-56, with six minutes remaining when sophomore center Johnny Williams (14 points, 10 rebounds) sparked a comeback. Williams, plagued by foul trouble, scored on consecutive baskets to lead Taft on an 11-0 run.

Taft held a 70-69 lead when Sheahan scored on a driving lay-in out of a spread offense to hand the Toreadors a three-point lead. Kenny Walker (17 points) missed a three-point attempt for San Pedro (13-12), but Taft turned the ball over out of the spread.

With 44 seconds left, San Pedro’s Jason Wells missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, James grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Trouble was, San Pedro entered the fourth quarter with no team fouls in the half and needed to burn four fouls before Taft was in the bonus situation.

After the third foul, Taft was awarded the ball out-of-bounds near half-court, but Schneider threw it away on the attempt to hit Sheahan. Salvation came second later, and tasted sweet.

“We’ve lost so many close ones in the playoffs that it’s nice to finally win one,” Woodard said. “We did our best to give it away, though.”