Orange Lutheran avenges loss to Tesoro and advances to CIF SoCal regional final

Orange Lutheran guard Zion Paleo led the Lancers with 18 points. (Photos: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).

What a difference a week makes.

Last Saturday, the Tesoro High School’s boys basketball team completely shut down Orange Lutheran’s offense in the second-half while outscoring the Lancers 31-10 to capture the CIF Division 2AA championship at Edison.

However, in Saturday night’s rematch in the Southern California Regional Division II semifinals at Tesoro High, Orange Lutheran used a stubborn defense of its own and avenged its previous shortcoming and turned the tide, holding on late to defeat the Titans 51-50.  

The No. 3 seeded Lancers (23-11) advance to Tuesday’s championship game and will host Pacifica Christian, who defeated Oxnard on Saturday. Tesoro had its 14-game winning streak snapped and finishes the season with a 31-5 record.   

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“We didn’t get a CIF title but this is the furthest our school has ever been,” said Orange Lutheran Coach Daniel Dunbar. “It’s March 4 and we’re still playing basketball and we have two more games to go. I told our guys all week that ‘our job is not finished.’ We played hard and got some redemption.”  

Orange Lutheran sophomore guard Zion Paleo drilled three 3-pointers and led the Lancers with 18 points.

“I didn’t play my best game against Tesoro last week,” said Paleo, who scored 11 points in the first-half to give the Lancers a 27-15 lead at intermission. “We stayed locked in and it feels great to get the W.”

Midway through the third-quarter, Orange Lutheran center John Gazzaniga scored four consecutive baskets to spark the Lancers. David Manea added a 3-pointer and Paleo converted three free throws in the final seconds of the quarter to give the lancers a 43-34 lead after three periods. 

But the No. 2 seeded Titans would not quit.

Tesoro scored on its first four possessions of the final quarter, highlighted by two buckets by Nathan Draper, a 3-pointer by Jake Bennett and a basket by Carson Brown that cut the lead to 47-43 with 5:31 to play.

Blake Manning pulled the Titans closer as he drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to close the gap to 51-50 with 30 seconds remaining.

The Lancers failed to score over the final 4:03 of the game, but their defense, led by Cannon Potter, Gazzaniga, Paleo, Andrew Nagy and Manea came up in the clutch. Twice in the final eight seconds of the game, Tesoro missed layups that proved costly.

Draper’s layup attempt rolled off the rim with eight seconds to go. Seconds later, Brown, after taking an inbounds pass from Manning, drove the lane against two Orange Lutheran defenders but his layup attempt also fell off the mark and the Lancers held on to win.

“I thought I was fouled on the final play,” said Brown. “When you’re in a situation like that with only a few seconds left, you try and sell it but the ref didn’t call it and the ball just didn’t go in. It was a great season and we won a CIF title, the first time that has been done here in about 14 or 15 years.”

Brown finishes his Titans career as the all-time leading Tesoro scorer in a season and in a career.

Tesoro coach Steve Garrett was disappointed that a foul wasn’t called on the final play of the game against Brown but he said his team didn’t play its best game.  

“I thought Carson was fouled twice on the final play but we didn’t get the call,” Garrett said. “Orange Lutheran is loaded with talent and they’re big and long and we knew they would come in here and battle. We didn’t play as consistent as we needed to play and our shots weren’t falling.”

Bennett, who almost single handily brought the Titans back from a double-digit deficit by drilling five 3-pointers, led Tesoro with 18 points. Banning scored 13 points and Brown was limited to 11 points.

“We tried to lock up Carson (Brown) as much as we could,” said Potter, a Lancers senior forward, who drew the assignment to guard Brown, who averages 23.5 points per game. “I think we kept him to a season-low.”

Gazzaniga, who was also a force on the boards for Orange Lutheran, said his team was poised for the game.

“We were ready for this game and experience and heart won it,” said Gazzaniga, who scored 13 points.  

Manea had three key baskets midway through the final quarter that helped the Lancers maintain their lead.

“We knew it was going to be a grind-out game and to win it at their place makes it even crazier,” said Manea, who scored 10 points.  

To reach the semifinals Orange Lutheran beat Bakersfield Stockdale and St. Pius X–St. Matthias, while Tesoro defeated Bakersfield Centennial and San Gabriel Academy.

—Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone