2013-14: Foothills Coach Not Quite Boeheim

There are 20.8 seconds remaining in the game.  Your team trails, 57-54, after battling back from down 14.

A blocking foul is whistled on one of your players.

The frustration finally got to Foothills Christian coach Brad Leaf.

Leaf channeled his inner Jim Boeheim and was slapped with a technical.

The Knights mentor’s outburst at the officials differed from that of the Syracuse coach, who was famously double T’d and ejected late in a loss to Duke last week.

Leaf, unlike Boeheim, was not wearing a coat when Leaf came onto the court.

Sweetwater then converted  three free throws and ran out a 61-54, Division III semifinals victory over the Knights, who, adding to Leaf’s game-long unhappiness, blew several opportunities to oust the undefeated, 28-0 Red Devils.

A vocal crowd of about 2,000 nearly filled the hosts’ gym and they saw coach Jesse Aguirre’s swifties race to leads of 7-0 and 23-9.

T.J. Leaf, the coach’ 6-foot, 8-inch sophomore son,  had a good line, 22 points, 12 rebounds, four steals, and four assists.

But Leaf missed 6 of his first 7 free throws and could not get several point-blank shots to go down as the very short Red Devils, a pack of swarming bees, harassed their taller opponents.

Leaf fouled out with 3:03 left in the game with the Knights lagging, 55-47.  Foothills manned up and closed to 57-54 but could get no closer.

Sweetwater’s Spencer Mattox scored 29 points and rebounded, dished, and stole in a pell-mell performance.  Mattox also mockingly preened for the Foothills crowd after he  drained an NBA-distance prayer  at the third quarter buzzer, increasing the Sweeties’ lead to 48-38.

Foothills surprisingly, and to Leaf’s dismay, was assigned a fourth seed in D-III, guaranteeing that it would have to meet the No. 1 Red Devils before the championship  game, which now matches Kearny and Sweetwater Friday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Leaf’s week thus began and ended on  sour notes.

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0 thoughts on “2013-14: Foothills Coach Not Quite Boeheim

  1. 3 refs is standard in Semifinals and Finals. And as to the coach’s behavior being unpenalized, that would be the first time I (and many other long time observers I’ve talked to) have ever seen an outburst like that not penalized accordingly.

    1. I wasn’t looking in Leaf’s direction, so I missed what you described. He was up almost the whole game.

  2. The coach never should have received that T inside of a minute on account that he should have received TWO T’s and the accompanying ejection several minutes earlier when he left his coaching box, came on to the floor, and crossed the division line while arguing another foul call. How the officials allowed that to happen is beyond comprehension.

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Away game
League game
>
>>,>>>,...
Overtime
2x,3x,... Overtime
I-V
A-AAA
O
Division I to V
Division A to AAA
Open Division
1T, 2T, ...
}, {
Final standing tie
Win, loss by 45 pt 'mercy' rule
*
**
***
^

^+
^^
1st round playoff
Quarterfinal playoff
Semifinal playoff
Championship
SoCal Championship
State Championship
8
8*
8**

8+
8-man team
Intraleague playoff
Southern Section playoff
8 vs 11-man team
~
-4
All boys, 2x enrollment
4 vs 3 grades, 9-12 vs 10-12
[
]
CA tiebreaker win,
loss
#, ##
!!
Forfeit win, loss
Game called, shortened or postponed
%Citrus-Desert Playoff

This will close in 0 seconds

@
=
Away game
League game
>
>>,>>>,...
Overtime
2x,3x,... Overtime
I-V
A-AAA
O
Division I to V
Division A to AAA
Open Division
1T, 2T, ...
}, {
Final standing tie
Win, loss by 45 pt 'mercy' rule
*
**
***
^

^+
^^
1st round playoff
Quarterfinal playoff
Semifinal playoff
Championship
SoCal Championship
State Championship
8
8*
8**

8+
8-man team
Intraleague playoff
Southern Section playoff
8 vs 11-man team
~
-4
All boys, 2x enrollment
4 vs 3 grades, 9-12 vs 10-12
[
]
CA tiebreaker win,
loss
#, ##
!!
Forfeit win, loss
Game called, shortened or postponed
%Citrus-Desert Playoff

This will close in 0 seconds

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