Inconsistency costs Tesoro in loss to St. Anthony at Ringo Bossenmeyer Holiday Classic

Tesoro Coach Steve Garrett and his players congratulate St. Anthony after the loss Saturday. (PHOTOS: TIm Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Tesoro’s boys basketball team has had a remarkable season so far with a 14-3 record.

But the Titans, coached by Steve Garrett, weren’t able to finish Saturday, losing to St. Anthony 64-55 in a second round game of the Ringo Bossenmeyer Holiday Classic at Tustin.

Tesoro had a six-game winning streak snapped.

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St. Anthony (2-0 in Pool A) appears headed to the championship game of the eight team tournament Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. vs. Servite. Tesoro dropped to 1-1 in pool play.

“We weren’t consistent enough to earn a win tonight, that’s the main thing,” said Tesoro Coach Steve Garrett, now in his 25th year as head coach. “There were four or five defensive possessions in a row where we didn’t stick to our principles, four or five possessions where we had good drives to the lane and didn’t take it up strong, we didn’t earn the fouls, didn’t finish.

“We went away from the defense, we got to earn wins and I just didn’t think we were consistent enough.”

Tesoro was led by sophomore Owen Hatch, who had 17 points and his brother Carson Hatch, a senior, who had 12 points.

Jamil House led St. Anthony (6-5) with a game-high 24 points and seven rebounds. House, the only Saint in double figures, had 18 of his points in the first half to help the Saints move out to a 22-16 halftime lead.

St. Anthony led by five points after three quarters. Owen Hatch made a 3-point play with 5:26 remaining before the Saints regained control and finished with a win.

“There was a stretch where we were down two and we have five of our seven possessions at the rim and I just thought they weak takes,” Garrett said. “You got to put pressure on the refs with a strong drive and finish the play and then the couple we missed, we missed our free throws. We were seven of 17 from the line, we should have gotten to the foul line at least 25 times, not because of the refs, but because of us, that’s a big factor.”

Max Draper and Dean Mika added nine points each for Tesoro.

“The kids are great, all these guys have literally played together since fourth grade,” Garrett said. “They all know each other, they’re extremely close, they count on each other for their success. Tonight, I just know we could have been overall a little bit more consistent when we needed to.”

Tesoro plays another pool play game Monday vs Beckman at 1:30 p.m.

Saturday scores

Mercer Island 54, Beckman 49

St. Anthony 64, Tesoro 55

Huntington Park 50, Hawaii Baptist 43

Servite 54, Tustin 35

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