For one half of play the Dos Pueblos boys basketball team was in prime position to pull an upset over a strong Capistrano Valley program, but the Chargers faded in the second half.
The visiting Cougars outscored Dos Pueblos 28-12 in the third quarter and pulled away for a 69-49 victory.
“They trapped us, we didn’t make good passes out of the traps and then they hit their shots at the other end,” said Dos Pueblos coach Joe Zamora. “We ended up having 18 turnovers for the game and they had 28-point third quarter. That’s just a tough one to overcome.”
The two teams went back and forth early in the game as Dos Pueblos jumped out to a 7-2 lead on two free throws by senior forward Micah Goss with 4:15 remaining in the first quarter. However, Capistrano Valley responded with a 12-2 run capped off by a steal and layup by Gabe Williams to take a 14-9 lead late in the first quarter.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Matthew Zamora gave Dos Pueblos a 16-14 lead early in the second quarter, but this time the Cougars bounced back with a 10-0 run and took a 24-16 lead on a Williams three-pointer with 2:15 remaining in the second quarter.
Williams finished with a game-high 27 points and his shooting kept Capistrano Valley in the game in the first half as the rest of the team struggled to find an early rhythm.
A steal followed by a transition layup by Goss cut the Dos Pueblos deficit to 24-21. After another layup in transition by Williams put Capistrano valley ahead 26-21, Justin Stock drained a three-pointer off the dribble as the halftime buzzer sounded to bring Dos Pueblos within 26-24.
“We were playing defense in the first half, but we were giving up way too many second chance opportunities especially against (Goss), the volleyball kid, who is just an athlete that we couldn’t deal with,” said Capistrano Valley coach Brian Mulligan. “I challenged these kids at halftime to play a little defense and they did come out with a better third quarter.”
A driving layup by Goss tied the score at 34 apiece with 5:14 remaining in the third quarter, but he seemed to irritate an existing injury on the play and went to the bench for an extended stretch. Capistrano Valley immediately staged a 12-0 run, that culminated in a Matt Leyco three-pointer that extended the Cougars’ lead to 46-34 with 2:10 remaining in the third quarter.
Once the lead ballooned to double digits the Cougars poured it on and took a 54-36 lead into the fourth quarter.
Zamora led Dos Pueblos with 18 points on six three-pointers. Goss chipped in 12 points and Stock finished with 8 points.
The Chargers will open Channel League play on Tuesday at Ventura.
Cate, 41; Nordhoff 23
The Rams advanced to the consolation championship with a victory over the host Rangers. They will take on crosstown rival Carpinteria at 1:30. Tyler Martinez and Marcus Scudder finished with eleven and eight points respectively.
Cate held Nordhoff to six first-half points to overcome a cold shooting performance.
Carpinteria, 51; Bishop Diego 45
The Warriors jumped out to a 27-13 victory at halftime and held on for the victory. Sebastian Reed finished with a game-high 17 points.
Camarillo, 57; San Marcos 45
The Royals couldn’t keep pace with a battle tested Camarillo team. Koji Heffner finished with a team-high 17 points and Joe Pasternack added 11 points.