Vanderputten Leads Trabuco Hills Again : Division II: He rebounds from his worst game of season by scoring 27 points as Mustangs beat Monte Vista, 75-68.

Gavin Vanderputten played one of his worst basketball games of the season last Saturday in the Southern Section finals, and the 6-foot-10 Australian exchange student took out his frustrations on Spring Valley Monte Vista Tuesday.

Vanderputten scored a game-high 27 points as third-seeded Trabuco Hills defeated sixth-seeded Monte Vista, 75-68, in a Southern California Division II first-round regional game at Trabuco Hills.

Trabuco Hills (26-5) extended its winning streak to 16 games and advanced to the regional semifinals Thursday night against top-seeded Glendora. Monte Vista ended the season 25-4.

Vanderputten used his height advantage to score 18 second-half points. He was guarded most of the game by Spring Valley’s Matt Ehlke, who’s 6-4. “Gavin was assertive, period,” Trabuco Hills Coach Rainer Wulf said. “He flat out took over in the second half.”

Vanderputten, who had 18 rebounds, was coming off an eight-point performance against Kennedy in the Southern Section finals Saturday.

“Gavin wasn’t really down after that game, but he was concerned because he didn’t play well in a big game,” Wulf said.

He didn’t play well early against Monte Vista, missing his first four shots, including two layups.

Meanwhile, Monte Vista used a full-court press and a fastbreak offense to take a 25-23 first-quarter lead.

But Brett Poulos, a 5-9 guard, kept Trabuco Hills close. He scored 17 of his 21 points in the first quarter, including three three-pointers.

“Most of the game was perimeter in the first quarter, so Gavin didn’t get the ball as much,” Wulf said. “There’s always an adjustment period in a game, and that was the first quarter. Once we got the ball in to Gavin, he took over.”

Monte Vista led by as many as 10 points, 35-25, with 4:15 left in the second quarter. But Vanderputten scored eight points in the final 3:59 as the Mustangs cut the deficit to 37-36 at halftime.

Trabuco Hills turned the second-half into a halfcourt game, pumping the ball inside to Vanderputten and 6-7 forward Corey Klinke, who finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Vanderputten scored 10 points in the third quarter and added eight in the fourth.