TOREADORS LOSE WITH SMITH ON BENCH FREMONT 67, TAFT 63.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

The first sign of trouble was when Taft High of Woodland Hills freshman Steve Smith walked into the gym wearing baggy pants, a red tennis shirt and a shy smile, instead of a basketball uniform. It was obvious something was up a minute or two later when he sat down at the end of the Toreadors bench.

Alone.

Ten minutes before tipoff.

That's when it became apparent that Smith, the Toreadors' prized freshman, and a key component in the three-pronged attack that helped Taft win 20 games, wasn't going to play Wednesday in the Toreadors 67-63 loss to Fremont of Los Angeles in a City Championship Division quarterfinal.

After the game, Taft coach Mark Drucker said Smith, who averaged 17 points per game, sat out for personal, family-related reasons. Drucker was told by Smith's family on Tuesday that his standout guard would not play.

Even with Smith watching from the bench, the Toreadors (20-3) nearly pulled out the win. They led 52-44 early in the fourth after overcoming an 11-point third-quarter deficit with a 19-0 run. The Toreadors seemed in control, pounding the ball into center Greg Guenther and getting offense from Ronald Gray, James Smith and Ezuka Collins.

But Taft lost composure at that point, not to mention point guard Derrick McCoy and Guenther to foul trouble, allowing the Pathfinders back in. Fremont took advantage with a 12-2 run of its own for a 56-54 advantage, a lead it never surrendered.

The Pathfinders hit all the important free throws down the stretch to put it away.

``We let them take back control and now our season's over,'' said Ronald Gray, who helped lead the second half surge to get Taft back in and finished with 21 points. ``We started out slow, then we came back and took over and then we gave it back to them.''

Gray and Guenther, who had 15 points, keyed Taft's run. But they couldn't overcome Fremont freshman Mark Bradford, who had 19 points, including five straight in a 30-second spurt to put the Pathfinders ahead 54-52.

Kenton Paulino added 20 for Fremont. Smith had 12 points and Collins had 10 for Taft.

``We weren't worried when they took the lead because we knew if we played hard we'd get it back,'' Bradford said. ``And that's what we did. Taft's a good team, but we took care of business at the end.''

Taft battled foul trouble all game, with Guenther, Gray and McCoy sitting long stretches. McCoy fouled out with 2:48 left to play.

``What can you say, life goes on,'' Drucker said. ``It was tough (not having Smith), but we had guys step up and show we're not just a one-man team. I'm proud out our guys, we had a great season. But it was a game of spurts and they got the last one. You have to give them credit, we had them down by eight and they could have given up, but they came right back.''