Vlasic Would Trade Performance for Title : Pacifica: Senior gets 28 points, 11 rebounds and three steals in loss to Sacramento Foothill.

Chris Vlasic, Pacifica’s role-playing star, simply won’t stick his oversized basketball sneakers on center stage.

You’d think after a 28-point, 11-rebound, three-steal game, he’d bask for a moment in some hard-earned limelight. Not this guy.

“You have to credit my teammates,” said Vlasic, a senior. “They set picks. They got me the ball. They made the plays.”

But what about you, Chris? What about you?

“Hey, you can’t do it all by yourself,” Vlasic said.

He came close.

Vlasic nearly led the Mariners to a tremendous comeback in Saturday’s State Division III boys’ title game at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, scoring 20 points in the second half. His teammates went along for the ride, but it turned out to be a dead end.

Sacramento Foothill came away with an 81-61 victory, but the Mustangs had to sweat out Vlasic first.

“We knew he could shoot,” Foothill Coach Drew Hibbs said. “Our kids got right in his face. He still made shots.”

That’s just Vlasic. He’s a role player, and he played the role of scorer Saturday.

Vlasic made seven of nine shots and had 17 points in the third quarter--including the Mariners’ first 15 of the half--to rally them from a 40-24 deficit.

Pacifica trailed, 55-49, at the end of three quarters.

“Of course, when you hit a couple shots, you feel that you can get on a roll,” Vlasic said. “But you can’t get shots without the ball. My teammates gave me some key passes and picks.”

Them again. What about you, Chris?

“I didn’t think I carried them,” Vlasic said.

Oh, yeah? The Mariners scored only eight non-Vlasic points in the third. Carry them? He dragged them.

“I tell you, Chris doesn’t get enough credit,” Coach Bob Becker said.

In a way, Becker is partially to blame. He took a great scorer and made him a key role player. Heck, Vlasic doesn’t even start. He averaged fewer than 20 minutes during regular season but led the team with an average of about 20 points.

But you won’t hear him complain about it.

“Success is always the goal,” Vlasic said. “I don’t care how many points I get, as long as we reach the goal.”

Vlasic and the Mariners reached for it Saturday. He had a steal and a layup, then made a free throw to close the gap to 63-56 with 4 minutes 41 seconds left. The Mariners got as close as five before Foothill pulled away down the stretch.

“I think Chris would have traded every point for a title,” Becker said. “No question about it.”

It was Vlasic who got the Mariners this far. He clinched the Southern California Regional final with eight free throws in the final minute to preserve a 60-55 victory over University of San Diego High School.

All season, in fact, Pacifica looked to him for his play and leadership.

“He came off the bench all year and had a great attitude about it,” Becker said. “He is the type of kid you want the rest of the team to emulate.”

Unfortunately for the Mariners, none of them could Saturday--at least on the court.

Jon Surface, the Mariners’ second-leading scorer, was slowed by the flu and finished with only 10 points. No other Mariner scored more than eight.

“I had a lot of help,” Vlasic said. “My coaches, my teammates . . . “