2-A Boys : El Camino Hangs On for Victory

SAN DIEGO — It took a little over a year and all 32 minutes of game action, but the El Camino High School boys’ basketball team finally tossed aside the demon of defeat Friday night in its San Diego Section 2-A semifinal playoff game at Serra High.

Omar McDade’s missed jumper from 20 feet at the buzzer gave top-seeded El Camino (24-3) a 70-68 win over Lincoln and a spot in next Saturday’s 2-A championship game against the winner of tonight’s other 2-A semifinal between Oceanside (20-4) and Castle Park (23-1).

Last Feb. 22, in a 2-A semifinal playoff, another top-seeded El Camino team was upset by Mission Bay, 60-52. The same players on that losing Wildcat squad were back Friday night hoping to make sure it didn’t happen again.

“Ever since we lost that game (to Mission Bay), that’s all we’ve ever heard about,” said senior forward Kenny Crawford. “Every time we had a bad practice this year, coach (Ray Johnson) would remind us of that game. All year, we’ve been playing to put that one out of our minds.”

Friday night, however, the demon nearly surfaced again. Lincoln, a team that not many touted early in the season, won the City Central League championship with a 10-0 record and beat University in the first round Wednesday night. And Friday, the Hornets nearly upended the Wildcats.

El Camino, powered by center Steve Heard’s inside play, opened a 49-39 lead midway through the third quarter when Lincoln stormed back.

McDade, who had a tremendous game despite missing his last-second jumper, helped bring the Hornets back with two tip-in baskets and a pair of outside jumpers. Trailing, 54-48, entering the fourth quarter, the Hornets ran off eight consecutive points to take a 56-54 lead with 5:56 remaining.

“At that point, I kept on thinking about what had happened against Mission Bay,” Crawford said. “But this year, we were all a year older and we were able to hang in there.”

Crawford, who scored nine of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, was one of the main reasons they did. He scored on a jumper and a rebound basket to put the Wildcats back in front, 58-56.

Moments later, Crawford scored on a three-point play to extend El Camino’s lead to 68-64 with 1:07 left.

Still, the demon wouldn’t die easily. Anthony Johnson and Shelby Hall each hit jumpers to keep Lincoln close and when Crawford missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with eight seconds left, the Hornets had one last chance.

Hall grabbed a rebound and passed down the left side to McDade, whose jumper bounced off the side of the rim. Crawford grabbed the rebound as time ran out.