Spirited Pacifica Beats St. Augustine With Major Rally : Division III boys: After trailing by 20 points in second half, Mariners, led by Vlasic’s 27, come back to win, 65-62.

Call it heart, grit, or the spirit of the sixth man, but something special spurred Pacifica to its come-from-behind 65-62 victory over San Diego St. Augustine.

Ryan Teague scored four points in the final 40 seconds of the Southern California Regional Division III boys’ basketball semifinal at Cypress College Thursday, culminating Pacifica’s rally from a 20-point second-half deficit.

Chris Vlasic, who had 27 points, including five three-pointers, and Jon Surface, who had 19 points, played the biggest roles in Pacifica’s dramatic comeback.

And when St. Augustine guard James Minshall’s 3/4-court heave at the buzzer fell short, many of the 3,000 fans in attendance stormed the court.

Pacifica (29-1) will play University of San Diego High, a 41-39 winner over Santa Margarita, in the Division III regional final at 11:30 a.m Saturday at Anaheim Arena. The winner will play in for the State Division III championship in Oakland next week.

“This team will not die,” Pacifica Coach Bob Becker said. “This crowd wouldn’t let them lose. I’ve never heard a high school crowd like this; it was deafening.”

The Pacifica fans didn’t have much to cheer about in the first half.

St. Augustine, led by 6-foot-11 junior forward Jelani McCoy who had 19 points, 18 rebounds, and five blocked shots, made its first 10 shots and bolted to a 31-13 lead in the second quarter.

The Saints (25-6) carved up Pacifica’s pressure defense, scoring the game’s first seven points. St. Augustine didn’t miss a shot in the opening 10 1/2 minutes; Pacifica shot 16% (five of 31) from the field in the first half.

“We were completely out of sync,” Becker said. “Absolutely everything was going right for them in the first half . . . they put on a dunk show.”

But the Saints eventually cracked under Pacifica’s pressure, committing 14 second-half turnovers.

Trailing 42-22 with 5 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Pacifica put together a 14-1 run, capped by a three-pointer by Vlasic, to cut the lead to seven with 3:01 remaining in the period.

The Mariners kept coming, and reserve guard Jaimi Bessho made two three-pointers in the opening 1:17 of the fourth quarter to give Pacifica its first lead, 51-49.

But St. Augustine didn’t fold, putting together a 9-0 run to take a 60-55 lead on Pat Ford’s dunk with four minutes remaining.

Vlasic and Surface scored six unanswered points for Pacifica to take a 61-60 lead with 1:57 remaining, then a free throw by Minshall tied it to set up Teague’s heroics.

Teague’s 17-footer from the corner of the key gave Pacifica a 63-61 lead. Teague, who was zero of five from three-point range in the first half, made two three-pointers in the third quarter and scored all of his 10 points in the second half.

After Minshall made one of two free throws for St. Augustine, Teague made both ends of a one-and-one to make it 65-62 with 16 seconds remaining.

Minshall rushed up court for a three-pointer, but Vlasic blocked it, rebounded the ball and was fouled. The celebration started five seconds later.