SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PREP BASKETBALL REGIONALS : DIVISION II BOYS : El Camino Turns Tustin’s Dreams Into Nightmare

The end came suddenly, but not unexpectedly, for Tustin. On Saturday, the Tillers were ranked third in the state. Seventy-two hours later, their dreams of a Southern Section and State championship are dust.

Oceanside El Camino blew out Tustin, 77-57, Tuesday night in the first round of the Southern Regional Division II playoffs. Just as they were Saturday against Compton Dominguez, the Tillers were beaten by a quicker, deeper and more aggressive team.

Tustin Coach Andy Ground said he saw it coming.

“I knew at practice (Monday) they thought they could just show up and win,” Ground said. “I knew that wasn’t going to get it done.”

Tustin point guard Doug Gottlieb, who led all scorers with 22 points, sensed early on his team was in trouble.

“We wanted to get back to play Dominguez, but we didn’t go about it the right way,” said Gottlieb, who had six turnovers and was constantly hounded by three defenders. “On the road you have to come out more fired up than the other team . . . with more intensity. But they came out with all the intensity.”

And all the quickness and depth. El Camino (29-2), the San Diego Section champion that lost only to Los Angeles Fremont and Del Mar Torrey Pines, played nine while Ground went with his starting five most of the way.

El Camino used three players on Tustin center David Lalazarian, who scored 25 against Dominguez but had only nine Tuesday, and they were all effective. Clarence Martin, a 6-foot-5, 280-pounder, scored 12 points and had four rebounds, Dion Booker, a 6-3 leaper, had five points and three blocks and 6-5 Oscar Garcia had three points and four rebounds.

As was the case Saturday, Lalazarian and Gottlieb got little help from their teammates. Guard Robert Griffin had eight points in the first quarter but didn’t score again and Raffi Lalazarian had six points, all in the first half. Aaron Kraus was somewhat effective with eight points and seven rebounds.

But Tustin’s biggest problem wasn’t its offense, but its defense. The Tillers allowed numerous fast-break layups and wide-open jumpers to El Camino’s quick guard trio of Conan Moore (19 points), Lawrence Owusu (six points, nine assists) and Joe Eyres (eight points).

“We didn’t guard anybody all night and when you don’t guard anyone, you’re not going to stop them,” Tustin Coach Andy Ground said.