It’s Deja Vu Time in Frontier League

Things are shaping up just like last boys’ basketball season in the Frontier League.

A year ago, Santa Clara High needed to defeat Nordhoff at home to pull into a first-place tie with the Rangers.

The Saints got it done then and they got it done Friday night, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 56-39 victory over Nordhoff at Santa Clara.

Senior forward Chris Post scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half for the Saints (13-5, 4-1 in league play).

“Coach says I had the green light to shoot, and tonight I felt good,” Post said. “But what won the game for us was our press. They buckled under the pressure.”

Senior center Earl Hall had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Santa Clara, the defending Division V state champion.

Etienne Emmanuel, who scored 26 points against the Saints in Nordhoff’s 56-49 victory earlier this season, was guarded closely and scored only 15 points.

He attempted only four free throws, making two. Emmanuel made 12 of 14 free throws in the first game between the teams.

“Last time we gave him too much room to operate,” Santa Clara Coach Marty Meyers said of Emmanuel. “This time we got in his face and tried to make this a full-court game. We know in a half-court game he’ll murder us.”

Santa Clara trailed, 28-26, midway through the third quarter when Post went on a tear. He scored seven of the Saints’ next 10 points, including a three-point basket that gave Santa Clara a 36-30 lead after three quarters.

Emmanuel, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, was benched for the first four minutes for academic reasons, but made an impact as soon as he entered the game. He dribbled the length of the court for a layup the first time he touched the ball, then made a 20-foot jump shot to give Nordhoff (14-5, 4-1) its only lead of the first quarter, 7-6.

Santa Clara, ranked No. 8 in Division V-AA, scored the final four points of the quarter on baskets by David Ramirez and Hall to lead, 10-7.

Senior guard Jason Angell, who scored 20 points in the previous meeting between the teams, scored his only basket after stripping the ball from Kenny Christenson and looping in a reverse layup to put Santa Clara ahead, 21-20, as time expired in the first half.

“You don’t follow a coach like Lou Cvijanovich and finish in second place,” Meyers said. “But beating this team isn’t easy. Nordhoff is good and they’ll be good for years to come.”

Cvijanovich left Santa Clara after last season and is an assistant at Hueneme. He holds the state record with 829 victories.