SEA VIEW LEAGUE : Brad Finneran Paces Santa Margarita

Everyone around Santa Margarita High School knows Brad Finneran as a pretty good football player, one who can make circus catches on offense and intercept passes with ease.

And Wednesday night, Finneran developed a reputation for stealing basketball passes, too.

Finneran’s steal and dunk in the fourth quarter broke open a close game as the Eagles, ranked sixth in Orange County, defeated fifth-ranked Tustin, 62-52, in a Sea View League game at Santa Margarita.

Santa Margarita (14-3, 5-1) pulled into a first-place tie in league with Tustin (14-4, 5-1).

And Eagle Coach Jerry DeBusk has Finneran to thank for it.

Finneran’s dunk with 3 minutes 38 seconds left in the fourth quarter ignited an 11-2 run as Santa Margarita turned a 48-45 lead into a 59-47 advantage with 1:28 left. Finneran added six more points, all on free throws, during the streak.

“Brad came to play,” DeBusk said. “We’ve been having him come off the bench, but he has been shooting well in practice. We thought we would give him a chance to get out there.”

Finneran, who started in place of his twin brother, Brian, also did a solid job defensively on Tustin’s DeJuan Matthews. He held Matthews to only four points, about 10 below his average.

“I was more worried about defense than offense when the game started,” said Finneran, who held Matthews to only one first-half point. “Matthews is a good offensive player.”

Neither team led by more than six points until Santa Margarita’s late run. The Eagles, who made four of seven free-throw attempts in the first three quarters, made 10 of 13 in the fourth quarter.

DeBusk said he was pleased with his team’s play, particularly in such a big game. Bobby Nolan had 15 points for the Eagles and Kevin Lewis added 10.

“We called this (game) ‘Prime Time,’ ” DeBusk said. “You had No. 6 in the county versus No. 5, and No. 1 and No. 2 in league. What’s not to like?”

Jason Reynolds led Tustin, which shot only 33% from the field, with 19 points. Sophomore point guard Doug Gottlieb added nine points, playing well against Santa Margarita’s Adam Dzierzynski, who DeBusk is billing as the county’s premier point guard.

“He (Gottlieb) is a nice player for a sophomore,” DeBusk said. “And I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. But there’s no question in our minds who the best point guard in the county is.”

In other games:

Woodbridge 49, Saddleback 48--Arash Ghazinoor scored the winning basket off a rebound with 15 seconds left for Woodbridge (10-6, 4-2), which got 16 points from John Florance. Chris Bradshaw led Saddleback (5-12, 1-5) with 15 points.

University 59, Newport Harbor 43--Demi Zeigler scored 34 points for University (4-12, 1-5), which outscored Newport Harbor, 21-4, in the third quarter. Ramy Shoukry led Newport Harbor (9-9, 2-4) with 15 points.

Corona Del Mar 54, Irvine 40--Todd Merriman had 19 points to lead Corona Del Mar (10-7, 3-3). Eric Ambrozich had 15 points for Irvine.