In a game that was rough at times, San Clemente was smooth when the Tritons needed to be smooth.
The Tritons boys basketball team beat Villa Park 58-53 on Monday in the Gold Division championship game of the Estancia Coast Classic tournament at Estancia High.
Porter Hansen scored 18 points and Christian Fernandez scored 16 for San Clemente. The Tritons improved to 15-4. They are No. 8 in the Orange County Top 25 rankings.
Fernandez, a 6-4 senior, was named tournament MVP. Hansen, 6-3 and also a senior, was selected to the all-tournament team.
Villa Park senior guard Tristan Griffin led the county No. 16 Spartans (12-7) with 17 points and seven steals. Spartans senior guard Malakhi Johnson scored 16. Both made the all-tournament team.
The court mop was kept busy. It was employed several times to wipe up the sweat on the floor from the many times players got knocked down under and around the basket.
San Clemente was in control for the first half. The Tritons led 13-5 at the end of the first quarter and 45-41 at halftime. Much of that can be attributed to the defense of San Clemente senior guard Chase Tolliver.
Tritons coach Landon Pluimer assigned Tolliver to guard Johnson. Johnson scored 36 points on Thursday in an overtime loss to Elsinore, 27 points on Friday in a Spartans tournament win over Lynwood and 20 on Saturday in a victory over Woodbridge. Tolliver kept Johnson from attempting a shot in the first quarter, and limited Johnson to three successful shots for seven points in the second quarter.
Griffin got the Spartans going in the third quarter. He made three 3-pointers, Johnson scored five points and Villa Park outscored San Clemente 19-14 in the quarter, briefly took the lead 50-47 on a Griffin 3-pointer and trailed the Spartans by four points going into the fourth quarter.
The teams traded the lead early in the fourth quarter. Villa Park had a one-point lead when San Clemente’s Desi Gutierrez scored off of an offensive rebound, his only points of the game, to put the Tritons on top 53-52. Tolliver made two free throws with 12 seconds remaining for the game’s final points and to secure the San Clemente victory.
Hansen was relieved to get the win in the physical contest.
“The refs were letting us play,” he said. “We really had to grind it out and put in a lot of effort.”
Pluimer’s evaluation was similar.
“This definitely wasn’t a perfect game for us,” the coach said. “We normally do a great job on the boards, but Villa Park did a good job hitting the boards.”
Tolliver scored seven points with nine rebounds. Villa Park’s Diego Perez scored 11 points with eight rebounds.
Also in the Estancia Coast Classic:
Fullerton 57, Valencia 54: The Indians (11-7) beat the Tigers (12-6) in the tournament’s Silver Division championship game.
Jad Mustafa added 16 points for Fullerton. Fullerton senior guard Jordan Myvett scored 15 points. Myvett was named the division’s MVP.
Dylan Cheng led Valencia with 16 points including three 3-pointers.
In The Classic at Damien:
Crespi 78, No. 5 Canyon 64: Canyon (11-3) lost to Crespi (13-4) in the championship game of the Gold Division, the tournament’s second-highest division.
Brandon Benjamin scored 30 points and Staf Yilmazturk added 16 points for Canyon.
Ygnacio Valley 65, No. 15 Foothill 60: Danny Kennard scored 18 points with 10 rebounds for the Knights (12-5) who lost in the Diamond Division third-place game. Foothill’s Kai Nixon, who scored 15 points with five assists, was named to the all-tournament Diamond Division team.
Brea Olinda 62, Western Christian 21: Logan Severson scored 18 points with four rebounds and three steals as the Wildcats won the Iron Division’s third-place game.
In the Desert Holiday Classic:
Folsom 87, No. 4 Mater Dei 46: Luke Barnett scored 18 points for the Monarchs who fell to 11-4.
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