Saints Win a Game They Need : High schools: They dominate showdown with Coronado, 74-61, to stay in Harbor League race.

It was supposed to be a game matching equal talent, between two teams that were favorites to battle for the Harbor League boys’ basketball title.

But Wednesday’s game between Coronado and St. Augustine was instead a mismatch, and St. Augustine won, 74-61.

“They are the best team in the league,” Coronado Coach Bob Stanton said. “Our kids underestimated them, and they beat us up out there.”

Coming off a loss to Christian last week, St. Augustine (1-1, 11-6) needed the victory to stay in the running for the league title.

“This was a must-win situation for us,” Coach Jeff Armstrong said. “You can’t go down 0-2 in league and expect to win it. We talked about it all week. Now we’re back in the hunt.”

Even though the victory was assured with a 10-point lead and a minute remaining, St. Augustine’s Bryan Cantwell and Paul Mossuto kept shooting and scoring until the final buzzer. Cantwell finished with season-high 31 points, 14 in the fourth quarter. Mossuto scored 19.

“I have to stay intense all the time,” Cantwell said. “We had three intense practices this week. We came in thinking we were the underdog, and Wastila was the man.”

The Saint’ defense held Derek Wastila, who has been averaging 18.7 points a game, to seven.

After a sluggish first five minutes, St. Augustine trailed, 12-10. But the Saints then turned it into a running game and five minutes later had a 27-16 lead.

“We wanted to create an up tempo and run against Coronado,” Armstrong said. “We went up by 10, then wanted to play a deliberate game with high-percentage scoring.”

Coronado (0-1, 10-7) trailed, 38-33, at halftime and never got closer than that in the second half. The Islanders had a number of opportunities, but missed shots from long range prevented them from challenging.

“It wasn’t their press that hurt us,” Stanton said. “Our kids were trying too many outside shots. When we came down the middle of court and got inside, we were scoring, but the kids just weren’t doing it enough.”

James Stark led Coronado with 19 points, Adam Smith scored 17 and Paul Carter scored 11.