Cleveland Shocked by Fremont

Fremont High Coach Sam Sullivan was trying to make a point with one of his youngest, yet most promising, players. He grabbed junior forward Tyrone Phillips by the jersey and nearly lifted him off the floor. Phillips may already have been on a higher plane.

“Tyrone, Tyrone,” he yelled above the noise of the throng. “Don’t ever let up. Don’t ever let up. See what I mean, you can do it if you want to.”

Phillips, who had a career high of 10 points before Friday night’s game with Cleveland, did all Sullivan wanted and more as Fremont upset Cleveland, 69-64, in the first round of the City Section 4-A Division playoffs Friday night at Cleveland.

Phillips, a 6-foot, 4-inch forward, was promoted from the junior varsity four weeks ago, replacing an injured player. All he did against Cleveland was score a game-high 26 points and almost single-handedly defeat the state’s No. 4-ranked team by scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Afterward, Phillips looked like a guy with stars in his eyes.

“I was scared,” he said. “I just didn’t want to lose. We still think we can make it to the Sports Arena.”

Fremont trailed, 51-40, entering the fourth quarter. The Pathfinders (13-9), however, outscored Cleveland, 29-13, to advance to the second round. Fremont will play Taft, a 48-43 winner over San Pedro on Friday.

Cleveland lost for the second consecutive game. On Wednesday, the Cavaliers lost a heartbreaker to Taft, 69-68, costing them the Valley League title.

Fremont hit Cleveland with a blitz that the Cavaliers could never have seen coming. It seemed like the Cleveland (18-4) lead was gone in seconds.

“It was what, 29-13?” Cleveland Coach Bob Braswell asked, blinking his eyes. “When was the last time you saw us get buried like that?”

Actually, while the fourth-quarter numbers were a little different, Fremont upset heavily favored Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs at Cleveland in 1984, when forward Trevor Wilson--now a starter at UCLA--was a Cavalier. Wilson, who attended Friday’s game, saw a rare repeat. It was only the third loss for Cleveland at home since Braswell took over three seasons ago.

Fremont stunned Cleveland by scoring the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to pull even, 52-52. Phillips scored 12 points in the period and was 4 of 4 at the free-throw line.

The teams traded baskets until Cleveland’s Michael Gray--who finished with a team-high 21 points after making his first start of the season--buried a three-point shot with 3:49 left, giving Cleveland a 58-55 lead.

Fremont, however, reeled off six points in a row, including four by Ronald Hawkins, who hit both ends of a one-and-one with two minutes left to give the Pathfinders a 61-58 lead.

Cleveland’s Richard Branham--who had 12 points--scored inside with 1:52 remaining to bring the Cavaliers to within a point. Cleveland would score only one more field goal.

The Cavaliers made only one of their last five shots. Fremont converted 13 of 15 free throws in the final quarter.

The last realistic chance Cleveland had came with Fremont leading, 66-63. Cavalier guard Joey Manliguis missed a three-point shot with 30 seconds remaining, and Fremont’s Darrin Dafney rebounded and hit Antoine Sherfield for a fast-break basket and a 68-63 lead with 24 seconds to play.

But it was the unlikely Phillips who delivered the most lethal blows.

“Phillips killed us. I mean, with one day to prepare, we just haven’t seen him play before,” Braswell said.

Phillips handled the Cleveland press, the pressure, and when the press asked his coach afterward if Phillips understood the magnitude of what he had done, Sullivan laughed out loud.

“Understand? No way. He’s just a kid who likes to play basketball.”