PHOTOS: Foothill falls short in state final, but coach remains proud of team’s record run

Foothill players watch in the final minute of Saturday’s game. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).

Foothill High School’s boys basketball team didn’t accomplish what it set out to do Saturday evening.

But Coach Yousof Etemadi remained proud of the effort of his squad, which lost to Elk Grove 62-56 in the CIF State Division II championship game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

Foothill finished with a school record of 31-4.

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“We had an unbelievable season,” Etemadi told OC Sports Zone a couple hours after the game. “We accomplished a lot this year and had an opportunity to play on the biggest high school stage tonight.

“The ball just didn’t bounce our way tonight. I’m proud of my team and what we have accomplished as a program in a short period of time. Historic season for our Knights.”

Cruz Billings scored 23 points and had five assists, Carlo Billings scored 11 points and had five rebounds and Jacob Horton scored 10 points and pulled down five rebounds to lead Foothill.

Ameere Britton scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Karlos Zepeda had 17 points and Jordan Hess 14 points to lead Elk Grove (28-6).

Elk Grove led 29-24 at halftime and 42-34 going into the final quarter.

Elk Grove made 47.2 percent of its field goal attempts and sank 8 of 17 on 3-pointers (47.1 percent).

Foothill sank 39.6 percent of its field goal attempts.

Foothill, which had been an excellent shooting 3-point team, made only 3 of 18 from 3-point range (16.7 percent). The Knights were 0 of 4 in the first half.

“We have been all year,” Etemadi said of his team’s success from 3-point range this season. “We shot 3 of 18 tonight and it didn’t help us at all.”

Elk Grove outrebounded Foothill 33-24.

Foothill captured the CIF Southern California Regional title Tuesday night to reach the state final.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com