SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS : DIVISION III-A BOYS : Estancia Turnovers Are Costly

There’s a good reason why Estancia’s excellent adventure through the Southern Section playoffs came to a screeching halt here Tuesday.

Actually there were 24 of them. As in turnovers. A ripple growing into a tidal wave that carried Goleta Dos Pueblos past Estancia, 57-48, at Santa Barbara College.

Some quick, rugged defense by Dos Pueblos (25-2) and the deadly lack of poise by Estancia are the key reasons why Dos Pueblos will play in the Division III-A title game Saturday and the second-seeded Eagles are grounded until next season.

From the second quarter on, Estancia piled up errors, throwing the ball away, getting stripped on the dribble or bouncing the ball off hands and legs. The Eagles did it early and they did it late, none as devastating as the fumbled out-of-bounds play with 25 seconds left and Dos Pueblos leading, 52-48.

“I’d like to think their defense had something to do with it; their quickness bothered us,” Estancia Coach Tim Parsel said. “But sometimes you have one of those nights.”

The Eagles, who led, 15-11, after the first quarter and trailed, 26-25, at halftime, had a difficult time maintaining offensive consistency. They did shoot 46% from the field (17 of 37) when they got shots off. But Estancia was outrebounded, 23-18, and made only six of 10 free throws--including missing the front end of a one and one with 40 seconds left, trailing, 50-48. Dos Pueblos made 21 of 27 free throws and made its last 11 points from the line.

“(Bad) free-throw shooting has been our story all year,” Parsel said. “We haven’t beaten too many people from the line.”

Dos Pueblos Coach Bruce Nelson said his team’s defense--in particular the half-court zone press that began Estancia’s turnover spree in the second quarter--made the difference.

“They are such a big and strong team, we wanted them to go around us instead of through us like they have most of their opponents,” Nelson said. “They were able to go inside the first quarter, but not after that.

“Now we’re at the big show. The Pond. And I hope everyone will see that Dos Pueblos is a tough team to play.”

They’ll get no argument from Estancia.

J.T. Stone led the Chargers with 19. Zack Richardson had 16 for Estancia.