Christian Gets Title at Buzzer : State finals: Stutz’ steal, DeGrenier’s layup give Patriot girls a 45-43 victory.

Tiffany Stutz, the leader on the Christian High girls’ basketball team, did not want to finish her high school career with a turnover in the state championship game at Arco Arena.

The 5-foot-8 guard lost control of the ball with 26 seconds remaining in the State Division V final Saturday against Ripon Christian and the score tied at 43.

But Stutz compensated for the mistake by stealing the ball with seven seconds left and making a perfect pass to junior guard Diana DeGrenier, whose one-handed layup at the buzzer gave Christian a 45-43 victory.

No one on either team could believe the game’s finish.

“I heard the buzzer, looked up at the scoreboard and saw all zeros,” said Cliff Vander Veen, Ripon’s coach. “I also saw that we lost by two. It’s hard to say if the shot was in time, but if I was a ref I think I would have counted it.”

DeGrenier, who finished with six points, said she did not have time to think about the final shot.

“I had no idea how much time was left, but I knew I could make the shot,” said DeGrenier, who attended the postgame press conference with the net wrapped around her neck. “I guess I’m glad I didn’t have time to think about it.”

The junior player acknowledged that layups are not her specialty. In fact, Coach Mike Zazvrskey instructed the team to get the ball in Stutz’ hands if they got possession near the end of the game.

Zazvrskey wanted freshman guard Stephanie Shadwell to bring the ball up court and then feed it into Stutz. But Stutz’ surprise steal in the waning seconds changed the game plan.

“DeGrenier wasn’t who I wanted to have the ball,” Zazvrskey said, “but she found the opening and did it for us. That’s all you can ask.”

Stutz, who finished with a game-high 18 points, said she was happy to be in a position to steal the ball in the end and keep Ripon from making the potential winning shot.

“I can’t believe I got that steal,” she said. “But when I had the ball I knew I just had to move it down court, and I knew the ball had to go in. I was really unaware of the clock.”

Christian, which finished the season with a 24-4 record, redeemed itself for last season’s 65-48 loss to Atherton Menlo School in the State Division V title game. The Patriots became the first San Diego County school to capture a state championship since the Point Loma girls won four consecutive titles 1984-87.

Ripon (27-3) won the Division V championship in 1988.

Saturday’s game was close throughout, with no team able to build a substantial lead. Ripon led, 13-11, after the first quarter, but the Patriots tied it at halftime, 21-21.

Stutz hit two jump shots and sank two free throws early in the third quarter to give Christian a 31-28 lead. But the Knights battled back behind the hot free-throw shooting of forward Carin Visser to go up, 37-33.

A driving layup by Stutz with two minutes left gave Christian a 42-39 lead.

Guard Jenny Miller and center Jeannette Nydam responded by scoring baskets for the Knights to tie the game at 43.

Christian shot only 29.5% for the game and was outrebounded, 46-36. But Ripon turned the ball over 17 times, the last one of which cost the game.

“I think our ability to keep our composure down the stretch was the difference,” Zazvrskey said. “That proved more important than statistics.”