St. Augustine won the best 2 out of 5 with Cathedral Catholic.
The Saints defeated the Dons with a 25-13 fourth quarter tonight and earned a berth in the Southern California regional finals Saturday at Colony High in Ontario. The final score was 55-45.
Coach Mike Haupt’s team commanded the backboards and hit the big shots in the final period to win their second straight from Cathedral after losing three in a row to their Catholic rivals during the regular season.
The other Saints victory was 62-36 last week in the San Diego Section finals.
A overflow crowd of about 2,700 taxed the Rancho Bernardo venue. The gymnasium lights went out five times during warm-ups and the tipoff was delayed 10 minutes. The building’s air conditioning apparently was stressed by the warm weather and testosterone-filled crowd.
The Saints led 24-15 late in the second quarter, but the Dons gradually went ahead 34-32 early in the fourth. That’s when “shoulda-been-Section-player-of-the-year” Trey Kell took over, answering two three-points baskets by Cathedral with two of his own and put the game away with free throws.
Cathedral’s frustration was mirrored by guard David Rosenberg, a player you don’t like, if he’s not on your team.
With 3 seconds remaining and the game clinched, the Saints retreated to their bench. The fiery Rosenberg took an inbounds pass, dribbled the length of the court and missed a dunk as the game ended.
