PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Guard Has Final Say for Trabuco Hills in Battle of Giants

With Trabuco Hills’ Gavin Vanderputten and Estancia’s Matt Fuerbringer strapped with foul trouble all night, the showdown between two of Orange County’s premier centers never really developed.

So Trabuco Hills’ Brett Poulos, all 5 feet 9 of him, took over the big man’s game in the final seconds.

Poulos stole a Fuerbringer pass with 26 seconds remaining, then sank two free throws with eight seconds left in the Mustangs’ 62-59 Pacific Coast League victory Wednesday night at Trabuco Hills.

Trabuco Hills’ Corey Klinke blocked Jim Faulkner’s three-point attempt with four seconds left to preserve the victory.

The Mustangs (14-5, 4-0) took over sole possession of the league lead while Estancia dropped to 14-5, 3-1.

Poulos, a junior guard, had an awful night shooting--making only two of 10 shots (both three-pointers) and finishing with eight points.

But he could do no wrong in the closing seconds.

With Trabuco Hills leading, 60-59, and Vanderputten on the bench with five fouls, Poulos came up with the ball after a wild exchange.

Faulkner had saved the ball from going out-of-bounds, tapping it to Fuerbringer. Fuerbringer paused, looked to Estancia Coach Tim O’Brien, who told the center to work the ball upcourt.

“I wanted him to bring it up to midcourt and then we’d call the timeout,” O’Brien said. “He threw it right to their guy (Poulos). That was the game-winner.”

Estancia committed four fouls and Trabuco Hills ran off 18 seconds before Poulos calmly sank both ends of a one-and-one with eight seconds left.

“Brett was all guts tonight,” Trabuco Hills’ Coach Rainer Wulf said.

Estancia got the ball to Faulkner, but Klinke blocked the final shot. Klinke finished with 12 points, five rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals.

Vanderputten scored a game-high 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds before fouling out with 2:23 left.

Fuerbringer also had a frustrating night. He sat out the final 9:30 of the first half with three fouls, and didn’t attempt a shot until 6:10 left in the third quarter. He finished with 11 points, including eight in the third quarter as Estancia took a 51-48 lead.

“I don’t think you saw either one (Fuerbringer or Vanderputten) at his best tonight,” O’Brien said. “It’s hard for a player to give his best when he’s sitting a few feet away from you on the bench.”

In other league games:

Century 66, Laguna Beach 59--Chris Lopez scored 15 points and four other players scored in double figures for host Century (14-4, 3-1).

Laguna Hills 54, Costa Mesa 51 (OT)--Aaron Cook scored 15 points for Laguna Hills (7-9, 1-3).