San Fernando, Coach on Roll in 1-Point Win

San Fernando High basketball Coach Dick Crowell’s courtside chair--one that includes a built-in seat cushion and caster wheels--isn’t of the standard sideline variety.

In fact, it allows Crowell to expand the limits of the coaching box, in a crab-like scoot. And while the Crowell Crawl lets him cover lots of hardwood, it has other advantages, too.

“I figured it would be more comfortable than one of those things they make in the state prison,” Crowell said.

After San Fernando defeated Kennedy, 64-63, in a Northwest Valley Conference opener at San Fernando on Friday night, Crowell almost needed some time in a padded cell.

In a game as closely contested as Crowell’s sanity could stand, San Fernando (8-3) finally took the lead for good--and for the third time all night--with six seconds left when Russell Baldwin took an inbounds pass and drove for a virtually uncontested layup.

Why does Crowell tend to go crazy over stuff like this? Not for the obvious reasons, such as for the thrill of winning.

“We wanted to go to Russell on the inbounds pass,” he said. “But (Lance) Whitaker was supposed to set a pick, then roll to the basket. Well, Russell came out too high, Whitaker forgot the pick, and what can I say?”

The last-ditch comeback by San Fernando wrecked a brilliant individual effort by Kennedy off-guard Garret Anderson, who scored a game-high 27 points and knocked down five of six three-point attempts.

Baldwin, who had two fouls in the first five minutes and was largely ineffective until the fourth quarter, saved the best for last. The 6-foot-5 senior scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter, and made five of six free throws in the period. “Truthfully, I’m a pretty good free-throw shooter,” said Baldwin, who canned two free throws with 51 seconds remaining to tie the score, 61-61. “I practiced every day at my house--until the hoop got torn down.”

Guess again, says the man in the rubber chair.

“All season long, it’s been, ‘Make one, miss the second,’ ” Crowell said of Baldwin’s experiences at the line. “Tonight, I was just praying he’d make the second one, too.”

Kennedy (7-6, 0-1) certainly didn’t tear down any backboards in the fourth quarter. The Golden Cougars took a 56-50 lead on Alan Johnson’s bank shot with 6:05 left. And following a technical foul that was charged to the San Fernando bench, Anderson made two free throws with 5:40 remaining for a 58-51 lead.

Kennedy, however, did not make another field goal until Josh Etting--who finished with 20 points--scored inside with 1:01 left, giving the Golden Cougars a 61-60 lead. Kennedy also turned the ball over seven times in the fourth quarter.

After Baldwin scored off the inbounds pass with six seconds left, Kennedy called time out, and got the ball into Anderson’s hands at midcourt with three seconds left. Anderson, however, was hounded by a San Fernando triple-team, and was unable to fire off a shot.

Marco Renteria, who finished with 13 points, contributed a critical pair of free throws with 1:13 left, giving the Tigers their first lead of the game since they led, 2-0, in the first quarter.

Renteria made five of six from the line overall, offsetting the troubles of teammate Errol Garnett, who missed the front end of three one-and-one attempts in the fourth quarter.