PHOTOS: Big second half lifts Tesoro past Orange Lutheran in CIF 2AA championship game

Tesoro players and coaches celebrate after winning the CIF title Saturday night. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).

Tesoro High School’s boys basketball team used an explosive second-half to break open a close game and capture the CIF Division 2AA championship game with a 54-35 victory over Orange Lutheran before a capacity crowd Saturday night at Edison High School.

The Titans outscored the Lancers 31-10 in the second-half to earn their first CIF boys basketball title since 2009. 

Tesoro’s senior guard Carson Brown led the Titans (29-4) with 26 points as he made 9-of-17 shots to propel Tesoro’s victory.

“It’s an amazing feeling; they’re a big team, but we came into this game with the attitude that we can compete with this team,” Brown said. “We controlled the second-half. We kept making shots and they kept missing shots and we kept rolling.”

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Following the game, Titans Coach Steve Garrett expressed his pride for his players.

“I know it sounds corny but these guys love each other; they’ve been playing together since they were in third and fourth-grade,” Garrett said. “We were a little dazed and confused at first but we kept playing consistent and the kids came together and stayed connected.”

Orange Lutheran led at halftime 25-23. Cannon Potter drilled two 3-pointers to start the third-quarter to give the Lancers a 31-30 lead at the 4:23 mark, but then it all started to unravel for Orange Lutheran. The Lancers could only muster one more basket and two free throws over the final 12 minutes of the game while the Titans applied a menacing defense. 

“The difference were the adjustments our coaches made at halftime; they kept telling us to plug the lanes and don’t let Zion Paleo go to his right,” said Titans forward Jake Bennett, who scored 13 points and had eight rebounds. “We kept getting good shots and growing the lead.”

Tesoro shot 41 percent for the game and held a 32-27 edge on the glass. 

“We’re going to be able to look at that CIF championship banner in the rafters forever,” said Titans forward Nathan Draper, who scored eight points and pulled down seven rebounds.

Tesoro started the fourth-quarter with a 37-33 lead and their mid-quarter surge changed the tide of the game. Tesoro guard Carter Johnson stole the ball and drove the three-quarters of the court and buried a layup over a defender that lifted the crowd into a frenzy and gave the Titans a 42-35 lead with 4:28 to play.

“It felt good to make a play like that; it gave us momentum and helped us win a CIF title,” said Johnson, who had six rebounds and two steals. Brown and Bennett secured the win by nailing a combined seven free throws in the final minutes.  

“We didn’t score in the second-half and when you don’t make shots, you don’t win and we didn’t make shots,” said Lancers Coach Daniel Dunbar. “We’ll recover from this and get back to work and get ready for state.”

Potter led the Lancers (20-11) with 16 points and John Gazzaniga had seven rebounds to lead Orange Lutheran. The Lancers shot only 25 percent for the game and committed 11 turnovers.   

Orange Lutheran last won a CIF boys’ basketball title in 2012.   

Tesoro captured the South Coast League title this season and has won 12 consecutive games.

Orange Lutheran scored on five of its first six possessions to take an early lead. Andrew Nagy’s bucket gave the Lancers a 12-6 lead at the 4:03 mark.

However, Brown sparked a Titans 7-0 run and then Blake Manning’s basket gave Tesoro a 13-12 lead with 1:45 left in the quarter. Davis Manea’s 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave Orange Lutheran a 15-13 lead after eight minutes of play.

The Lancers started the second-quarter on an 8-0 run that was capped off by Potter’s 3-pointer that gave the Lancers a 23-13 lead with 4:37 left in the quarter. However, the Titans rallied and held the Lancers to one basket over the final four-minutes of the quarter to cut the Lancers lead to 25-23 at the break. 

Brown led all scorers in the first-half with 16 points. Potter led the Lancers with eight points in the first-half as both team shot under 40 percent. After receiving a technical foul early in the game, Gazzaniga was benched for the remainder of the quarter. He returned in the second-quarter and was a force at both ends of the floor, blocking three shots in the first-half.  

To reach the finals, the Titans defeated Marina, Crescenta Valley, Rancho Verde and Culver City in the opening round of the playoffs while Orange Lutheran beat Aliso Niguel, Edison, Rancho Cucamonga and Oxnard.

—Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone