Marching on Sacramento

It started in November, over forkfuls of pancakes and sausage.

B.J. Ward and Nick Jones, already signed and sealed and all but delivered to UC Santa Barbara, were eating with their coach, Lou Cvijanovich, a week or two before to his 41st season at Santa Clara High.

Before Cvijanovich reached for the bill at Uncle Herb’s restaurant, he had one important point to get across to his two stars.

“He told us this was our team,” Ward said. “He put a lot of responsibility on us.”

Responsibility that was accepted, nurtured and, on Saturday, applied toward another playoff victory, this time in a state tournament Division V semifinal Saturday at the Pyramid in Long Beach.

Jones scored 27 points, Ward had 24 and Santa Clara downed El Cajon Christian, 93-55, to earn a spot against Modesto Calvary Temple in the Division V boys’ basketball state title game on Friday at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

In the process, Santa Clara set a record for most points in a Division V Southern Regional championship game, eclipsing the 81 points scored by Pacific Hills in a triple-overtime victory over San Diego Horizon last year.

“They’ve been on a mission since day one,” said Cvijanovich, the winningest boys’ basketball coach in California with 828 career victories. “They made up their minds to put this together and they sure as heck did it.”

It helped that the Saints (29-3), top-seeded team in the Southern Regional, shot 64.6%, making 42 of 65 shots.

And that they had 13 steals, several of which led to layups.

And that they were playing another team from the San Diego area, a region that left the Saints bitter after a lopsided loss at Horizon last year in the state tournament.

Add it up and you get a team that is headed to a state title game for the first time since 1991.

Ward and Jones matched each other basket for basket, scoring 19 of the Saints’ 23 points in the first quarter.

“They’re hard to defend,” said Coach Randy Wright of El Cajon Christian, who employed everything from a full-court press to a triangle-and-two in an attempt to stop the Saints.

“Bottom line is, you’ve got to defend two great players.”

Santa Clara’s reserves contributed when Jones and center Terrance Dotsy, who scored 10, each picked up his third foul midway through the third quarter.

Santa Clara led, 51-31, at the time, but embarked on an 11-3 run, started by Mike Madrigal’s fadeaway jumper and capped by an Anthony Camper three-point basket.

“Coach always says that if we really play as a team, nobody can beat us,” said Jones, who made 12 of 18 shots. “And it’s true.”

Santa Clara led, 29-10, early in the second quarter on a steal and layup by Jones. El Cajon Christian (25-6) countered with its only run of the game, scoring the next 10 points to close to within 29-20.

But the Saints had a 14-4 run, giving them a 43-24 halftime lead.

After the game, Cvijanovich addressed the players.

Said Jones: “He said, ‘One more game. . . . Then we can celebrate.’ ”

Tim Brown and Jon Henkel each scored 17 points for El Cajon Christian.