The circumstance and the stage may have made for the most defining athletic moment in St. Augustine’s 91-year history.

It wasn’t that the Saints pulled away from San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral in overtime Saturday in Sacramento and won the State Division III championship, 59-52.  That would be second.

No. 1 would be the gutty, cold-as-ice performance at the free throw line by the Saints’ Trey Kell.

After leading almost all 32 minutes St. Augustine was about to blow the championship sky high to the resourceful Fightin’ Irish, who come from a school that had been around 48 years before the Augustinian priests founded St. Augustine in 1922 at the intersection of 32^nd and Nutmeg  in North Park.

Surrendering a four-point lead with 26.8 seconds to play and trailing, 47-44, the Saints had a last chance when Kell attempted a three-point jumper.

3 OR OUT

Trey was fouled on his trey with 2.9 seconds remaining.  The Sacred Heart blunder gave the Saints hope, but Kell would have to make three successive free throws, with everything on the line.

The 6-foot, 4-inch junior guard drained all three.  Each attempt hit the bottom of the net.  It was a remarkable demonstration of poise and skill.

Kell finished the game with 30 points and 11 rebounds in another superlative performance that begged the question:

Why wasn’t Kell (or teammate Brynton Lemar) chosen San Diego Section player of the year, instead of 7-foot Kameron Rooks, whose Mission Hills team took a 17-point beating in the Southern California regional final against Santa Monica?

Kell is a difference maker.

The victory gave coach Mike Haupt his first state championship in Haupt’s 17-season run (330-173 overall record) with the Saints (29-4), erasing some of the disappointment of a 67-56 loss to Santa Cruz in the D-III championship in 2005.

Haupt told Terry Monahan of UT-San Diego that “I was losing my mind in the final minutes.  I could feel it slipping away.”

As he did in the Saints’ 11-point, fourth-quarter comeback against West Hills Chaminade in the Southern regional the week before, Haupt kept his hand on the rudder and his  team rode out the storm.

DEFEAT WAS ON THE HORIZON

Horizon’s finish with Alameda  St. Joseph Notre Dame in D-V was just as frantic as the Saints’.

Sophomore Ethan Underwood launched a running jumper from beyond the NBA three-point line as time expired and Horizon, No. 1 seed from the South, pulled out a 47-46 victory  over the top seed from the North.

Coach Tyrone Hopkins’ Panthers closed with a rush, winning their last nine games to finish with a 21-11 record and their fourth state championship.

Horizon won D-IV titles in 2002, ’04, and ’06.

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.

Six San Diego Section teams, out of the original 13, still are practicing and still preparing as the Southern California regional playoffs reach a critical semifinals round.

At least one of the remaining six will be eliminated in games Tuesday, March 12, and one will qualify for the finals Saturday, March 16, at Colony High in Ontario.  That’s because St. Augustine and Cathedral Catholic will meet for a fifth time this season, on the neutral Rancho Bernardo court.

Some 2,000 mostly Saints fans watched Saturday night as coach Mike Haupt’s club scalded Lawndale Leuzinger with a 16-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter to put an end to the shorter Olympians, who battled for three quarters despite an overall 45-23 deficiency in rebounds.

Cathedral advanced with a 57-45 victory at Tustin.

Hoover overcame San Marcos in the fourth quarter for the second time in a week to win 59-56.

St. Augustine is No. 1 seed in Division I and Cathedral is 5.  Hoover is the 3 seed in D-II and visits old rival Redondo Beach Redondo Union, the 2 seed.

CARDINALS SUCCESSFUL 57 YEARS AGO

The last time Hoover was at Redondo was in 1956 in the Southern Section quarterfinals.  The Cardinals defeated the Seahawks 56-54 on Bill Landry’s jump shot as time expired.

Other semifinals games:

Mission Hills, No. 4, goes to Santa Monica (27-6), the top seed in D-1.  The Grizzlies survived No. 5 Inglewood, 49-47.

Army-Navy (29-4), a 78-71 winner over Encino Crespi, gets another home game at Oceanside High.  The 2 seed Warriors face Torrance Bishop Montgomery (31-1), a Southern Section powerhouse whose No. 6 seeding left many observers dumbfounded.

Top seed Horizon (18-11) moved on in D-V to take on 4 seed Sun Valley Village Christian (28-4)  after defeating Valencia Trinity Classical, 52-33.

PREDICTING

We tabbed 6 out of 9 in the quarterfinals.  The experiment in picking the scores was a disaster but I might try it again.

Eight of 11 San Diego Section teams won first-round games and advanced to Saturday’s Southern California regional quarterfinals.  Two others which received first-round byes will swing into action.

Pairings, records ( ) and seeds ):

DIVISION I
5) Inglewood (19-10)  at  4) Mission Hills (27-4).

II
5) La Costa Canyon (28-5)  at  4) Westlake Village Westlake (27-5).
11) San Marcos (27-5)  at  3) Hoover (30-5).

III
9) Lawndale Leuzinger (23-8)  vs.  1) St. Augustine (25-4) at Rancho Bernardo.
5) Cathedral Catholic (29-4)  at   4) Tustin (30-2).

IV
8) Mater Dei Catholic (26-6) vs. Gardena Serra (25-6) at  Torrance El Camino College.
10) Encino Crespi (23-9)   vs.  2) Army-Navy (28-4)  at  Oceanside High.

V
9) Valencia Trinity Classical  (19-6)  at   1) Horizon (17-11).
10) Foothills Christian (19-14)  at  2) Sherman Oaks Buckley (23-6).

OUR GUESSES
I–Inglewood  72, Mission Hills 63.

II–La Costa Canyon 58, Westlake 54.
Hoover 74, San Marcos 65.

III–St. Augustine 65, Leuzinger 58.
Tustin 69, Cathedral 60.

IV–Serra 77, Mater Dei 52.
Army-Navy 63, Crespi 55.

V–Horizon  47, Trinity Classical  40.
Sherman Oaks Buckley 75, Foothills Christian 55.

CARDINALS SHAKE MID-GAME FUNK

Hoover defeated Las Flores Tesoro, 84-60, with a fast start and equally swift finish in its first-round game at Hoover.

Leading  39-22 after a 16-0 run, but with rebounding and inside presence Jordan Alexander on the bench with 3 fouls, Hoover was bumped out of the fast lane by the plucky Titans.

Tesoro launched a 20-4 run of its own and trailed only 43-42 midway in the third quarter, despite playing without  6-foot, 8-inch center Tanner Lancoma, a Washington State-bound center who was out with  a groin injury.

Hoover eventually regained its stride, pulling away to 59-46 at the end of the third quarter.  The Cardinals turned the fourth quarter into a 25-14 clinic of breakaways, dunks, and three-point  jumpers.

St. Augustine saved its best best game for last and earned the No. 1 rating in the final UT-San Diego boys’ basketball poll.

The Saints (25-4) raced to a 16-2 lead after the opening tip against Cathedral Catholic in the San Diego Section Division III finals.  They opened the second quarter with another withering burst of 16-2  to take a 33-6 lead and knock out the Dons, 62-36,  before about 3,500 persons at Viejas Arena last Saturday.

Such was the Saints’ exhibition of ball movement, shot selection, and defense that they were awarded the top seed in D-III and a first-round bye in the Southern California playoffs, which begin Wednesday night, March 6.

The biggest winner in the poll other than coach Mike Haupt’s Saints  was coach Ollie Goulston’s Hoover Cardinals (29-5), who moved from sixth to third. Cathedral was the biggest loser, dropping from first to fifth, followed by La Costa Canyon (27-5), beaten by Hoover, 58-50.  The Mavericks dropped from third to sixth.

St. Augustine,  1-3 this season against Cathedral, could meet the Dons again in  the Southern California semifinals.  The Saints would have to win their opening game against the winner of Los Angeles Hamilton (16-14) and Lawndale Leuzinger (22-8).

Cathedral’s road to a rematch with St. Augustine is more daunting.  The Dons (27-4), seeded fifth, must get by Rancho Santa Margarita (16-15), the 12 seed in the first round, and then take on the winner of  dangerous Tustin (29-2) and Huntington Beach Ocean View (24-7), who play in the 4-13 game.

Hoover is young (four starting underclassmen) and has struggled in past Southern California regionals, but the Cardinals showed moxie and toughness in overcoming San Marcos 68-63 in the San Diego Section D-II playoffs and didn’t flinch in the glare of La Costa Canyon’s pedigree, which includes a berth in the 2012 State D-II finals.

Hoover is seeded third in D-II and La Costa Canyon fifth.  The Cardinals are home in the 3-14 game against  Las Flores Tesoro (21-9) of Southern Orange County.  The Mavericks drew Granada Hills Kennedy (27-7)  of the Los Angeles City Section and are the home team in a 5-12 game.

A possible quarterfinals rematch would pair Hoover and San Marcos (26-5), but the Knights must travel to their first-round game against Villa Park (23-7) and are a double-digit seed in a 6-11 contest.

Army-Navy (27-4) will be favored at home in the D-IV 2-15 game against Montebello Cantwell Sacred Heart (20-8).  Horizon is top seed in D-V and draws a first-round bye.

Final UT-San Diego poll.  First place votes in parenthesis.

Others receiving votes: Torrey Pines (20-10), 6 points; San Ysidro (24-8), 6; Santa Fe Christian (19-10), 2; Foothills Christian (19-14), 2; Lincoln (13-15), 2.

MY CHOICES

As one of 13 selectors, I didn’t always agree with my colleagues.  Actually, I never agreed with them.  But my wife says I’m just a disagreeable type.  So here is my final ballot, with comment.

1–St. Augustine.  Closing fast and capable of  deep run the next couple weeks.

2–Hoover.  Rising program with  brilliant, 75-year history.

3–La Costa Canyon.  Temporary setback?

4–Cathedral Catholic.  They won’t shoot that poorly again.

5–Army-Navy.  I know, I know.  I keep under-rating them.

6–Mission Hills.  Kameron Rooks must dominate for Grizzlies to advance.

7–San Marcos. Solid but not quite special.

8–Mater Dei.  Scrappy and well coached.

9–Lincoln.  Very disappointed in my alma-mater.

10–San Ysidro.  Another well-coached South Bay club.

Cheikh  N’diaye did a double-pump fist salute to the gallery of Army-Navy students sitting behind the Warriors’ basket in Viejas Arena Saturday.

It was a relieved, if rare show of emotion for N’Diaye, whose team had just survived a tense struggle with a tough Mater Dei Catholic squad in the San Diego Section IV finals.

Army-Navy’s 56-50 victory, its first in a championship final since 1986, guaranteed the Carlsbad cadets (27-4)  a first-round, home game next week in the  Southern California regional playoffs.

Mater Dei (25-6) probably is faced with a first-round road game.

N’Diaye scored 14 points and had 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots and guard Devin Watson, the linchpin in coach Tom Tarantino’s inside-out offense, had 22 points.

Late in the third quarter N’Diaye and his teammates had fallen behind 38-30. Watson still was looking for his shot and the Crusaders were coming down with most of the rebounds and policing the loose balls.

At that point the Warriors came alive as Watson’s three-point attempts began to fall and his side ignited a 21-3 run that produced a 51-41 lead.

A 9-0 Mater Dei volley closed the score to 51-50  but N’Diaye scored with 1:15 left and the Warriors finally put away their unheralded opponent from the supposedly basketball barren South Bay.