SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Santa Clara Finds 13 to Its Liking

Depending on who you played for Tuesday night, No. 13 either lived up to its bad-luck reputation or shed that image during Santa Clara High’s 63-58 victory over Bell-Jeff in a Southern Section Division IV-A quarterfinal game at North Hollywood High.

Both teams entered the game with 12-game winning streaks, but the Saints (22-4) made No. 13 lucky for them and unlucky for Bell-Jeff (21-6).

Santa Clara advanced to the semifinals Friday against Verbum Dei, which defeated Orange Lutheran, 73-67.

Santa Clara’s motion offense flustered Bell-Jeff for most of the game. Executing nearly flawlessly, the Saints were able to get their players open and connect on 20 of 32 shots.

“Their experience was obvious,” said Bell-Jeff Coach Eli Essa, who starts two sophomores and a freshman. “They executed and finished [and] we executed [but] didn’t finish.”

Santa Clara guard Bryan Doyle was open most often, scoring 18 points on 10-of-12 shooting. His only two misses were blocked.

“It was just coming to me,” Doyle said.

The Guards, who trailed, 32-20, at halftime, made the game close by switching to a pressure defense in the second half.

The strategy almost worked as sophomore Ruben Douglas, who scored 23 points, hit an eight-foot fadeaway jump shot to pull the Guards to within 57-54 with 1 minute 53 seconds left to play.

But the Saints made four of five free throws in the waning moments to seal the victory. Peter Lee made three of four free throws in the final minute.

“Hey, we won,” said Santa Clara’s Lou Cvijanovich, in his 38th year of coaching. “A game like this can’t get to me, otherwise I’d be dead by now.”

Lukman Dotson had 15 points and six assists for the Saints while Adam Lopez scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Elihu Cobb had 18 points for Bell-Jeff.