Prep Basketball Playoffs / THIRD ROUND : St. Clair Can’t Take Eagles Down : DIVISION III-AA

Santa Margarita had the stamina and the numbers. They weathered everything Sonora had to offer--from Chris St. Clair’s jump shots to the Raiders’ shift in strategy.

They handled it all for a 65-60 victory at Brea-Olinda High School. They endured and will face Inglewood Morningside in the Southern Section Division III-AA semifinals Tuesday.

Easy as pie, hey guys?

“Boy, we worked for that one,” Eagles’ guard Adam Dzierzynski said. “They kept coming at us. Boy, they’re a great team. Everyone had to contribute.”

Everyone did, and it nearly wasn’t enough.

The Eagles (23-4) took control, 50-38, with 5 minutes 30 seconds left. They then had to outlast St. Clair’s last stand. He scored 14 points, including seven straight.

St. Clair finished with 33 points.

The Raiders (23-4) hit four three-points to pull within 58-55 with 1:22 left. But as they frantically worked for points, the Eagles calmly sank free throws.

Santa Margarita made 11 of 13 in the final two minutes.

“They kept hitting those threes, and I got nervous,” Santa Margarita Coach Jerry DeBusk said. “I kept saying, ‘We got to make this free throw, we got to make this free throw.’ We did. Is that great coaching?”

Said Dzierzynski: “We just never panicked.”

They had opportunities, plenty of them. They trailed by as many as eight points in the first half and seemed to have trouble getting into their offense.

“Everybody was trying to do too much,” DeBusk said. “We were in too much of a hurry.”

Still, they trailed only 27-23 at the half. The Eagles then broke fast in the third quarter with a 8-2 run. It was then that the Raiders to a zone, something they have used little this season.

Santa Margarita picked it apart, scoring three quick baskets and finished the third quarter with a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Brad Finneran to take a 44-36 lead.

“I cost us that one,” Sonora Coach Mike Murphy said. “I should have never, ever played zone. We played man all year, and I go to zone, and it killed us. I thought too much. I should’ve just let the kids play. We would’ve won that stinking game.”

The Raiders looked on there way at the start.

They led by as many as eight points in the first half. But the Eagles tightened their defense and threw a blanket around St. Clair for the most part.

He scored 14 points in the first half, but had only two field goals.

“Coach really had them scouted well,” Dzierzynski said. “We knew every play they had. We knew every pick he was going to come off. And still he got 30-some points. What a great player.”

St. Clair was, but he received little support.

Center Chris Campbell scored seven points in the first quarter but finished with just nine. Peter Lythgoe tossed in a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter but had just two other field goals.

Meanwhile, the Eagles won with balance. Dzierzynski scored 16 and Bobby Nolan 14. Finneran and Brad Young both scored 10.

Said Dzierzynski: “We all did it.”