SEA VIEW LEAGUE : Santa Margarita Takes Time to Defeat Tustin

Tustin guard Dejuan Matthews looked like he was going to dim Santa Margarita’s hopes of its first league basketball title all by himself as he scorched Brad Finneran for six points in the first two minutes.

But an embarrassed Finneran came back to regain some respect as he held Matthews to two points after that. No Tustin players picked up the slack for Matthews and fourth-ranked Santa Margarita methodically took apart eighth-ranked Tustin, 46-39, Wednesday night at Tustin.

Santa Margarita fans stormed the court after the victory, which gave the Eagles (20-4, 11-2) a two-game lead over Tustin (18-7, 9-4) with a game to play.

“It hasn’t been easy, but I’m so proud of the kids and the way hung in there,” Santa Margarita Coach Jerry DeBusk said.

DeBusk wasn’t happy with the way his team was playing early. He called a timeout at just 2 minutes 45 seconds into the game when he fell behind 10-2.

“I was really concerned the way Dejuan was scoring,” DeBusk said.

So was Finneran.

“I didn’t think I came out very strong,” said Finneran, who added four points, and five rebounds. “I knew he was a good shooter, but he was going by me on drives too.”

Matthews scored another basket on substitute Corey Niles and finished the quarter with eight points. But the scoring pace slowed enough to allow Santa Margarita’s size to take over inside. The Eagles, led by eight of center Brian Young’s game-high 14 points, trailed 18-16 after a quarter and 27-25 at half.

Santa Margarita struggled to find its offense too as Tustin went to a zone and dared the Eagles to shoot from outside. But the Eagles dominated the boards.

In other league games:

University 74, Newport Harbor 66--Demitrius Zeigler had 31 points for visiting University (6-17, 3-10). Ramy Shoukry had 21 points for Newport Harbor (12-13, 5-8).

Irvine 49, Corona del Mar 26--Eric Ambrozich had 15 points, 10 rebounds for Irvine (18-7, 8-5).

Saddleback 68, Woodbridge 62 (2OT)--Saddleback (5-8 in league) made six in the second overtime to pull out the victory. John Florance had 19 points for Woodbridge (12-11, 6-7)