SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS

In another 3-A game:

Corona del Mar 67, Notre Dame 58--Notre Dame’s leading scorer, Bobby DaCorsi, was held to just four points as the Knights fell in a semifinal game at Estancia High.

Four players scored in double figures for Corona del Mar: Warren Johnson (17), John Upham (13), John Paulsen (11) and Mark Flint (10). At the free-throw line, Corona del Mar made 27 of 38 (71%), including 11 of 16 in the fourth quarter.

1-A

Faith Baptist 51, Brentwood 50--Alex Estrada has that look his coach wants to know better.

And, if Stuart Mason is lucky, Estrada will flash it one more time: His Faith Baptist team will meet Brethren, a 64-63 winner over Chadwick, next Friday for the Southern Section 1-A title.

The Contenders advanced to their first championship basketball game by beating Brentwood, 51-50, at Chaminade High. Estrada, a sophomore guard, missed his first nine shots before he hit a 15-footer midway through the third quarter.

“The rim was being mean to me,” Estrada said. “But I knew I would heat up in the second half.”

Estrada rallied to score all of his 19 points in the second half on eight-for-11 shooting. No shot was bigger than his 13-foot jump shot in the lane with six seconds left. The shot, over Eagle guard Chris Scott, gave Faith Baptist (18-10) the win and its only lead of the game.

Scott, who finished with a game-high 23 points, connected on three three-point baskets to spark Brentwood (20-8) to a 16-4 lead after one quarter. The Eagles pushed the lead to 14 before Faith Baptist began its slow crawl back. Faith Baptist’s Fernando Garcia and Robert Reed contributed 17 and 10 points.