PHOTOS: Dana Hills holds on and defeats Tustin 34-33 in defensive battle at tourney final

Dana Hills players and coaches pose with the championship trophy they earned Saturday in Santa Ana. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

Dana Hills boys basketball team held off a late charge by Tustin to capture a 34-33 victory over the Tillers in the championship game of the Santa Ana Garden Grove Four Cities Challenge Saturday afternoon.

To see the slide show, please click on the first photo

Nathan Martin of Dana Hills is guarded by Ryan Stading of Tustin.

Jason Naranjo of Tustin drives through the lane in Saturday's game.

Chris Na of Dana Hills is guarded by Jason Naranjo of Tustin.

“We found a way,” said Dana Hills Coach Tom Desiano. “I told the kids before the game that playing against Tustin, you have to play 32 minutes and it’s going to be a war and it’s going to be physical and that’s exactly what it was. It was a war.”

Chris Na scored 10 points and Harrison Weise added eight points for Dana Hills. Jason Naranjo scored 15 points and Ryan Stading had eight points for Tustin, which had only four players score in the game at Santa Ana which wrapped up the 12-team pool play tournament.

The game was a defensive battle from start to finish. Dana Hills led 14-10 at halftime. The pace picked up a bit at the end and the Dolphins (4-0) were able to move out to a 31-24 lead with 3:47 remaining.

Tustin (3-1) made a late run cutting the lead to 31-29 on a basket and free throw by Naranjo with 2:07 left.

The Tillers came away empty handed on two trips inside the final two minutes and Na made one of two free throws with under 10 seconds left to make it 34-30.

Naranjo hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to account for the final margin.

“Coach (Ringo) Bossenmeyer, over there, that’s what he’s known for,” Desiano said. “The defensive end and they do such a great job with that. We just stuck with it. We missed a lot of shots, a lot of open shots. There’s a lot of attention on Harrison Weise because he can score a little bit inside. We just need to be able to hit our 3-point shots.”

Tustin was going for its fourth victory out of the gate and Bossenemeyer, despite the ups and downs his team went through in Saturday’s game, said he saw some encouraging signs.

“We, as a coaching staff, are extremely proud of our effort this afternoon on the defensive end and on the glass,” Bossenmeyer said. “We obviously struggled at times but Dana Hills’ length and defensive intensity had a great deal to do with that. It was definitely an experience we can build on for the start of Empire League play.”

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