BY MATT JOCKS
BEAUMONT — The harder the Beaumont High Cougars held on to the potential league title, the more slippery it became. In the end, though, they weren’t about to let it hit the floor. After twice allowing big leads to nearly slip away Wednesday, Beaumont finally took care of business. Four free throws by Josh Martin in the final 20 seconds put the finishing touches on a 48-42 victory over Hemet, clinching the Mountain Pass League championship with one game remaining. “It’s a great feeling,” Martin said. “Now, we can concentrate on avenging our only league loss (against Hemet Tahquitz) and hopefully go into the playoffs with a W.” It didn’t seem like any drama would be in store when Beaumont (20-5, 8-1 in league) opened the game with a 13-0 run. The Cougars pushed the lead to 14 on their opening possession of the second quarter, but then went nearly seven minutes without scoring. That allowed Hemet to close to within a point, although Martin padded the halftime lead with a late 3-pointer. Beaumont again appeared safe in the second half when Hemet went scoreless for 5:44 over the third and fourth quarters. Beaumont put up 12 points in that stretch to open a 41-27 lead with 5:20 remaining. Again, Hemet was able to crawl back in. As Beaumont went cold from the floor, Hemet (16-7, 6-3) burned the Cougars with a couple of putbacks and a big 3-pointer from Garrick Sherrod. Jared Walsh drove the key for a potential three-point play and, although he missed the free throw, he cut the lead to two with 24 seconds to go. Martin then hit two free throws, Hemet’s Ian Randle missed a 3-pointer and Martin added the clinching free throws with 10 seconds to go. The Cougars had struggled at the line, missing 6 of 12, before Martin had the chance to ice the game. “It’s emotional because you know it’s a big game,” he said. “You just have to push all of that out of your mind.” Beaumont coach Jon Florence said the emotion might have played a part in his team’s offensive lapses, but he was pleased the Cougars could rely on the defense. “It was tough with Drew (Andrew Walker) in foul trouble,” Florence said. “He usually goes 32 minutes for us. But it’s good we had to play through a little adversity.” Martin led Beaumont with 12 points and Sammy Martin had 10 and Alan Hendey had 13 rebounds. Walsh scored 17 for Hemet.