Santa Clara Thrives in Pressure Cooker

A raucous home crowd, a spirited comeback for the visitors and, in the end, dueling coaches.

Just a typical game between Santa Clara and Santa Paula highs, this one ending in Santa Clara’s favor, 62-60, before about 1,000 Friday night at Santa Paula.

Thanks to a second-half comeback, the Saints (13-4, 6-0 in Frontier League play) are close to wrapping up their 13th consecutive league title.

Santa Clara trailed at halftime, 49-44, but cranked up its man-to-man defense and went inside to sophomore Nick Jones, who scored the winning basket from the key with 15 seconds left.

Santa Paula (13-7, 4-2) had a chance to tie with seven seconds to play, but Josh Jimenez went up for an off-balance shot, decided to pass at the last moment and tossed the ball right to a Santa Clara player.

The last few seconds were ugly, with Santa Paula’s Javier Rodriguez throwing Santa Clara’s Scott Sorich to the ground. As a result, the teams did not shake hands.

Santa Clara Coach Lou Cvijanovich and Santa Paula Coach Tom Donahue sparred verbally in the locker room afterward.

Cvijanovich was upset at the actions of Rodriguez and also the Santa Paula crowd, which threw coins and other objects at Santa Clara players and coaches.

Donahue did not defend Rodriguez, but did stand up for his fans.

“This was a big game in a small gym,” Donahue said. “What does [Cvijanovich] want us to do, hire the Marines?”

Fans were lined up four hours before tip-off, hoping to see a repeat of 1995, when the Cardinals broke Santa Clara’s 93-game league winning streak, 52-49.

But the Saints were too much in the second half, making 14 of 17 shots. Jones finished with 20 points, six in the fourth quarter.