Santa Ana junior guard Jack Rivera drives to the basket defended by Cate’s Tyler Martinez (13) and Babacar Bouye. He was fouled and finished off the three-point play. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
The Santa Ana boys basketball team nearly overcame a double-digit deficit with 90 seconds to play but fell short and lost to Cate of Carpinteria 60-56 in a second round CIF 4A game Friday night at Santa Ana High.
Babacar Pouye scored 21 points and Jengus Ercil added 15 points for the Rams (14-7) who advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday against the winner of the Liberty/Jordan matchup. The Saints finished the season 19-8.
Despite the loss, first-year Santa Ana Coach Zach Johnson remained upbeat about the season and the way forward.
“These guys bought into me and our system from day one,” said Johnson, a former Foothill High basketball coach. “We exceeded my expectations. These guys won 19 games and that hasn’t been done at this school in 20 years. The chips just didn’t fall our way tonight, but these are great kids and they worked so hard this year.”
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
The Santa Ana fans showed their appreciation for their team as they loudly cheered the team as they exited the gymnasium following the game.
The game was shaping up nicely for the Saints early in the third-quarter, following Alex Neria’s 3-point play that gave Santa Ana a 35-29 lead with 6:26 to play in the quarter.
However, Cate, despite having their leading scorer (Pouye) on the bench with four fouls, went on an 18-2 run, sparked by Ercil and Marcus Scudder, over the next five minutes and built a 47-37 lead, following Daniel Lee’s basket with 1:26 left in the quarter.
Emmanuel Lemus and Jack Rivera drilled a basket and a 3-pointer respectively for Santa Ana in the final minute of the quarter to cut the lead to 47-42 after three periods.
Bu the Saints were not able to build on their momentum as the fourth-quarter started. Santa Ana made only two baskets over the first six minutes of the quarter and fell behind 58-46 with 1:19 to play.
A late Saints surge excited the large crowd as Matt Rojas and Lemus hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Jack Rivera followed by knocking down four free throws to cut the lead to 58-56 with 11 seconds to play, but Ercil canned two free throws in the final seconds to ice the victory for the Rams.
Rivera and Lemus each scored 20 points for the Saints.
“We’ve struggled this season in the third-quarter and tonight that was visible,” said Rivera. “But this is the greatest bunch of guys I’ve ever played with.”
Cate’s Coach Andrew Gil said his team had to find a way to slow down Rivera.
“Rivera was killing us in the first-half; everything was running through him, so we decided to run a box and one on him to try and slow him down; he’s a great player,” said Gil.
Lemus said it was a very successful season.
“We learned a new system with a new coach and we came together as a team and we surprised a lot of people,” Lemus said.
Saints athletic director Brian Lillie also complimented the team on its performance this season.
“We had a new coach and St. Margaret’s and Costa Mesa came into the league and we hung tough, battled and we were competitive all year,” said Lillie.
Scudder also scored 14 points for Cate, which is a small school with an enrollment of 240 students.
—Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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