It’s Verbum Dei’s Night in Final : Prep basketball: Miller scores 32 as the Eagles win their first title since 1979. Cantrell has 37 for Santa Clara.

The words were different, but Andre Miller and Damian Cantrell had the same notion Friday night.

“I thought I should take over,” Miller said.

“I just wanted the ball,” Cantrell echoed.

The seniors got their wishes, but in the end missed shots proved the difference as Miller’s Verbum Dei High overcame Cantrell’s Oxnard Santa Clara, 71-65, to win the Southern Section Division IV-A championship at UC Irvine.

Miller, a 6-foot-2 guard, scored a team-high 32 points, including 24 in the first half when the Eagles (24-2), ranked No. 13 by The Times, took a 44-34 lead.

In the second half, Cantrell scored 21 of his 37 points, including eight in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter to carry the Saints (19-8) to a 59-58 lead.

Verbum Dei then went on a decisive 10-2 run to take a 70-63 lead with 29 seconds left.

Miller, who guarded Cantrell in the fourth quarter, was impressed.

“He took it to me,” said Miller, who made 12 of 21 shots and had 10 rebounds. “He wasn’t afraid to play, and he took it to the basket.”

Cantrell made 16 of 31 shots.

Said Mike Kearney, coach of Verbum Dei: “I did catch on to (Miller’s) ear about trying to stop this kid.”

Verbum Dei, which lost Southern Section title games in 1990 (Santa Clara), 1991 (Santa Clara) and 1993 (Serra), won its first championship since 1979.

Perhaps Santa Clara’s downfall came at the free-throw line, where the Saints made seven of nine, the Eagles 13 of 19.

“I think we didn’t get some breaks on some calls,” said Lou Cvijanovich, who has coached Santa Clara to 13 titles in 36 seasons.

Still, Cvijanovich was pleased the team did not quit when falling behind early in the game.

“Everybody in the stands thought when we got down by 10 we’d get blown out,” he said. “That wasn’t the case.”

Cvijanovich made a defensive switch to start the second half, putting 6-3 senior Jess Pena on Miller, replacing the slower Cantrell.

Miller scored eight points after the break.

“He got physical and took me out of my game,” Miller acknowledged.

But in the first half, Miller was virtually unstoppable in making four of five three pointers.

“I haven’t shot many threes in a while, I’ve been driving to the basket so I thought I should take some and see how they were going,” Miller said.

Jamal Cobbs scored 17 points and Deon Williams added 10 for the Eagles. Pena, who had 10, was the only Saint besides Cantrell to score at least 10.

But it came down to a game of two.

Said Cvijanovich: “It’s always exciting to see outstanding basketball players. We had one and they had one.”

And in the end, Verbum Dei’s one--Andre Miller--was enough.