San Juan Hills coach Jason Efstathiou presents the runner-up trophy to his players Saturday. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).
San Juan Hills boys basketball team made a big comeback in the second half to take the lead but Sacred Heart Prep rallied Saturday and defeated the Stallions 47-45 on two free throws with less than a second left in the CIF State Division IV final at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
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San Juan Hills, coached by Jason Efstathiou, was hoping to cap a memorable post-season run with the program’s first state title after battling through numerous injuries and adversity during the regular season. The Stallions won four consecutive games to reach Saturday’s final.
They battled on Saturday, like they have done all year.
But the Gators’ Alex Osterloh was fouled attempting a 3-pointer and made two of three free throws with to give Sacred Heart the lead. He missed the third shot intentionally off the backboard, but since the ball did not hit the rim, San Juan Hills was awarded the ball.
However, the inbounds pass sailed out of bounds on the other end and Sacred Heart celebrated the win.
Osterloh led Sacred Heart (21-11) with 15 points. Pat Bala added 13 points.
San Juan Hills (21-15) was led by Garrett Brehmer, who had 17 points, Rocco Jensen who scored 10 points and Kellen Owens who had eight points. Parker Hull scored six points for the Stallions.
After trailing by as many as 12 points in the second quarter and 24-17 at halftime and with several players in foul trouble, San Juan Hills battled back in the second half and cut the lead to four points going into the final stanza.
The Stallions took their first lead, 40-38, with 5:29 remaining on a basket by Brehmer. Sacred Heart regained the lead but San Juan Hills regained it, moving out to a 45-41 lead with 1:55 left.
Sacred Heart tied the game 45-45 on a two free throws by Osterloh following a steal with 1:15 remaining.
After both teams missed chances to go ahead, San Juan Hills got the ball back with 35 seconds, called timeout in the front court with 31 seconds. But the Stallions came up empty handed and Sacred Heart got the ball back with 11.9 seconds remaining to go for the game winnng play.
San Juan Hills made 19 of 42 field goal attempts (45.2 percent) while Sacred Heart made 17 of 56 (30.4 percent). San Juan Hills connected on just 2 of 13 3-point field goals (15.4 percent) and had 19 turnovers.
Sacred Heart outrebounded San Juan Hills 35-30.
Sacred Heart led 10-8 after one quarter.
(Stats provided by CIF State Office).
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