SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PREP BASKETBALL REGIONALS : Estancia Knocks Off Servite : Division III: Eagles turned it on in the third quarter for a 56-47 victory and berth in championship game. They’ll face Pomona on Saturday in the Sports Arena.

More and more, it’s beginning to look as if Estancia is going to take the same route Servite did to the State Division III basketball championship.

Estancia, which lost its bid for a sectional title six days ago, moved into the Southern California Division III regional championship with a relatively easy 56-47 victory over defending State champion Servite on Thursday night in front of 2,400 at Cypress College.

Last year, Servite lost to Estancia in the Southern Section III-A final in overtime but drew an at-large entry into the regionals and eventually won the State title. Now, it appears to be Estancia’s turn.

“The team is hungry,” said Estancia Coach Tim O’Brien. “Last year, we won the CIF (Southern Section) title and the spark just wasn’t there in the regionals. This year, the team wants to prove it’s better than it showed in the CIF game against Pomona.”

Saturday, the Eagles will get another shot at Pomona when the two teams meet in the regional final in the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

Estancia (26-5) borrowed a page from Servite’s playbook, playing tough, man-to-man defense and pressuring the ball. The result was 23 turnovers by Servite, including 17 in the first half.

“They were all over us,” said Servite forward Adam Anderson. “They weren’t that quick, but they sure pressured us whenever we touched the ball.”

Servite (24-7) failed to get a shot in its opening six possessions, repeatedly throwing the ball away and usually at midcourt. Estancia opened a 9-2 lead but had to settle for a 22-22 tie at halftime after making eight of 26 shots in the first half.

“I told the team at halftime that if we would have hit anything in the first half, we could have opened up a good lead,” O’Brien said. “I thought we played well in every aspect except scoring in the first half, and that’s what you need to do to win.”

Estancia finally found the range in the third quarter with an assist from an unlikely cast member. Reserve guard Tim Leonard, who played only two minutes, hit a big three-point shot that awakened his teammates, and Estancia responded by making 7 of 14 shot attempts in the pivotal quarter.

Paul McDaniels’ three-point shot with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter gave Estancia a 38-29 lead and Servite never did recover. Later, O’Brien said he never felt comfortable until the final buzzer, but added that he liked his team’s chances, holding a seven-point lead going into the last quarter.

“Servite is not a good catch-up team,” O’Brien said. “But to be honest, I didn’t feel comfortable until (the last) 16 seconds. I knew Servite wasn’t going to give up until the final buzzer. That’s the type of team they’ve been for the past two years.”

Junior forward Matt Fuerbringer ultimately sealed the win for Estancia in the final minute of play by making four free throws. Fuerbringer led all scorers with 16 points and had 10 rebounds.