Cougars Pull Out All Stops to Beat Tritons

Capistrano Valley Coach Brian Mulligan had been waiting all season for this to happen.

“I think it’s finally starting to get across to them,” Mulligan said. “I’ve been complaining about our defense all year, but we got stops and steals when we needed to.”

Capistrano Valley’s game against host San Clemente on Wednesday was a shootout for the most part, but the offense-minded Cougars used defense to spark a 75-72 comeback victory that kept them atop the South Coast League standings.

Seven steals in the final five minutes allowed Capistrano Valley (19-2, 6-0), ranked No. 3 in the county, to come back from a 67-55 deficit and take a 68-67 advantage, its first lead of the game, with 1:40 left to play on Justin Demere’s three-pointer.

Tim Burnette answered with a layup to put San Clemente (13-6, 2-4) back on top, but Jake Franzen (24 points) hit a three-point basket for a two-point lead with 35 seconds left.

Franzen then stepped in front of a San Clemente pass and scored on a breakaway layup with 16 seconds left for a 73-69 lead.

Jordon Fleener’s desperation three-point attempt came up short for San Clemente, the county’s 10th-ranked team, and Pete Decasas sealed the win for Capistrano Valley with two free throws.

“It was unbelievable,” Mulligan said. “All of them stepped up pretty big when they had to. They’ve got a lot of guts this year.”

It was the second time this week that San Clemente came up short in a South Coast League thriller. The Tritons lost to Mission Viejo, 64-63, on Monday.

San Clemente’s James Hartman led all scorers with 25 points, including six three-pointers, and Curtis Bush had 16 points and nine rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.