Triton Defense Stops Diablos

It got the better of the San Clemente players in a steamy gymnasium last summer when they were learning how to do it right, but forward Mitch Pierce knew sooner or later the Tritons’ “Dog Defense” would pay off.

It certainly did Wednesday night when San Clemente clinched the third and final automatic playoff berth in the South Coast League with a 69-41 victory at Mission Viejo.

Had Mission Viejo won, it would have moved into a tie with the Tritons going into Friday’s last game of the regular season. And the Diablos would have had the inside track for the final automatic position by virtue of their 69-61 victory at San Clemente.

But the Tritons’ suffocating man-to-man defense that often picked up the ball as the Diablos brought it across midcourt held Mission Viejo (11-14, 3-6) to only 10 field goals in 37 attempts and forced 23 turnovers.

“Coach [Brad Davis] told us that that Dog Defense, if we just learned to play it for four quarters, would work,” said Pierce, who had 18 points, eight rebounds and six steals.

San Clemente (16-8, 5-4) opened this one up for good in the second quarter with its frustrating defensive pressure. When Mission Viejo committed its 10th turnover that led to Pierce’s basket for a 28-13 lead with 2 minutes 38 seconds left, tempers began to flare.

Shortly thereafter, Davis was hit with a technical foul for arguing with a referee’s call when a Triton was called for being too close to a player he was defending.

Nonetheless, San Clemente kept up the pressure and in the third quarter, Mission Viejo Coach Jeff Cunningham was ejected after two technical fouls for arguing about the rough nature of the game.

“I thought we came out with tough, hard defense and I like to think that our defense made them step back and think about what was happening,” said center Triton Joe Tatala, who scored 18 points.

Matt Cole led Mission Viejo in scoring with 10 points.