Flintridge Prep boys’ basketball’s title run stopped by St. Joseph

SANTA ANA — For a few moments, it appeared as if the Flintridge Prep boys’ basketball team was in a familiar place.

The Rebels had sliced a one-time 18-point deficit to eight and visions of another double-digit fourth-quarter comeback were alive in Saturday afternoon’s CIF Southern Section Division V-AA championship game at Godinez Fundamental High.

The difference this time wasn’t so much Flintridge Prep, but top-seeded Santa Maria St. Joseph.

The Knights proved themselves to be the best team in the division as they defeated the Rebels, 62-45, for the program’s fourth Southern Section title.

“They have so many weapons offensively and they put so much pressure defensively,” said Flintridge Prep Coach Garrett Ohara, as the Rebels dropped to 1-3 in Southern Section championship contests. “They put a lot of pressure on us because they’re so fast.”

Rebels senior forward Dante Fregoso led all players with 24 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, while senior guard Andrew Tsangeos added 15 points.

The third-seeded Prep League champion Rebels (21-5), who will await Sunday’s CIF State playoff pairings, trailed, 49-34, after three quarters.

That’s when Flintridge Prep made its last stand via a 7-0 run that culminated on a pair of free throws from Tsangeos with 5:54 remaining.

The surge brought the Rebels’ crowd to its feet as the squad was hoping to duplicate its come-from-behind 70-67 overtime victory over No. 2 Saddleback Valley Christian on Feb. 26 in which the Rebels overcame a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit.

There was no such encore effort as the PAC 8 League co-champion Knights (29-3), top-ranked in Division V in the state according to calhisports.com, calmly answered with a crushing 10-0 run. The spurt was finally stopped on a jumper from Tsangeos with just over two minutes remaining.

By that time, the Rebels were down, 59-43.

“They were just a good team,” Fregoso said of St. Joseph. “They knew what to do throughout the game [and] they kept their composure.”

St. Joseph’s biggest asset Saturday afternoon was its diversity, as four Knights scored nine or more points, led by 15 points and six rebounds from junior guard JoJo Walker.

Outside of Tsangeos and Fregoso, the 11 other Rebels who saw action combined to shoot three for 13 (23%) for six points.

“We’re always looking for who’s going to be the third guy for us or even fourth guy,” Ohara said. “A team like this not only has the ability to shut down your next two guys, but your first two guys, as well.”

The game started to slip away from the Rebels in the first quarter, as the team pulled within 14-10 on an up-and-under bucket from Fregoso with 1:23 left in the quarter.

St. Joseph closed out the quarter with a 7-2 run to take a 21-12 advantage after one.

The Knights’ biggest lead of the first half was 37-20 before Flintridge Prep shaved off three points before halftime on a Fregoso free throw and a field goal from Kendall Kikkawa.

Gabrys Sadaunykas added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Knights, while Scott McBeth chipped in 14 points and four rebounds.

“This has been a fun ride and I’m proud to be a part of this,” Tsangeos said. “I don’t know who thought we’d get here. Even in this game, people were saying we’d get blown out by 30 and we really only lost by 10. The last few points came in garbage time. Overall, I’m proud these guys.”

Flintridge Prep’s championship game squad included players Kole Hamane, Jonathan Le, Julian Diaz, Jacob Brawer, Jonathan Au, Bruce Dennis, Jonathan Samuels, Jake Althouse, Beau Detchemendy, Leo Reilly and Cameron Wu along with assistant coach Rudy Bojorquez.