SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS 2-A BASKETBALL : Cavazos Leads Santa Maria St. Joseph to Victory

Santa Maria St. Joseph won its first Southern Section 2-A boys’ basketball championship Saturday at the free-throw line.

Laguna Beach’s free-throw line.

Roger Cavazos scored 20 of his game-high 32 points in the second half as the Knights rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Laguna Beach, 70-68, at the Sports Arena.

The Knights opened the fourth quarter with a 15-2 run and Spencer MacCuish made the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with five seconds left to seal the victory.

Laguna Beach missed five free throws late in the game, including the front end of three one-and-ones in the final 1 minute 29 seconds.

“I thought in the last two minutes the game was ours,” Laguna Beach Coach Ed Bowen said. “All we had to do was win it at the free-throw line.”

Instead, St. Joseph, which lost four of its first six games, improved to 20-7. Laguna Beach is now 22-6.

St. Joseph led, 69-67, after a free throw by Cavazo with 1:28 left.

Borella, who scored 18 of his team-high 25 points in the first half, missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 1:17 left to begin the Artists’ struggle from the line.

The Artists had made nine of 12 free throws before the fourth quarter, but made only seven of 14 in the final quarter.