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    San Clemente beats San Juan Hills to win second straight South Coast League boys basketball championship
    • February 5, 2025

    SAN CLEMENTE – It is difficult to win two consecutive championships in any Orange County boys basketball league.

    It is especially so in a league as consistently challenging as the South Coast League.

    San Clemente made it happen Tuesday with a 52-45 win over San Juan Hills at San Clemente High.

    San Juan Hills and San Clemente went into the game tied for first place. With their win the Tritons won the South Coast League boys basketball title for the second year in a row.

    San Clemente finished 7-1 in league games in the five-team league. San Juan Hills went 6-2 in league games.

    Both will be in the CIF Southern Section playoffs that begin Feb. 14. San Clemente, 23-5, is No. 39 in the latest ratings that will determine which teams will play in which playoff divisions. If San Clemente stays at or above No. 39 the Tritons appears destined for Division 1 which, after the elite Open Division, will be the Southern Section’s second-highest division.

    San Juan Hills (19-9) is No. 54 in this week’s CIF-SS ratings, so a placement in Division 2AA or 2A is likely.

    CIF Southern Section boys and girls basketball playoff brackets will be released Sunday at noon.

    Porter Hansen was expected to score plenty of points for San Clemente, and he did with 18 points. Christian Fernandez made his usual offensive contribution with 10 points and fine passing.

    But when the Tritons needed clutch scoring in the final moments of the fourth quarter, they got them from reserve senior forward Jack Loper in their biggest game of the season with the South Coast League championship at stake.

    Loper scored on a bank-shot power move inside with just over one minute remaining, then tossed in a one-handed 4-footer in the lane with 44 seconds left to give San Clemente a cushion it needed.

    Reserve senior guard Davis Blake scored 11 points including three 3-point baskets.

    Fernandez and Hansen were South Coast League co-MVPs last season. Hansen on Tuesday led San Clemente with 18 points. Hansen, a sharpshooting 6-3 senior guard, went into the game averaging 19 points a game. Fernandez took an average of 22 points a game into this week.

    The San Clemente gym, which according to plans is to be torn down as early as this summer, was warm and it was loud. The old wooden bleachers were filled on one side, 70 percent full on the other.

    The Tritons took their first lead at 8-6 in the first quarter and never trailed from there. They led 15-11 at the end of the first quarter and 31-21 at halftime. Blake made a buzzer-beating 3 at the end of the third quarter to give San Clemente a 43-35 lead going into the final quarter.

    San Juan Hills 6-7 senior forward Mason Hodges scored 22 points, two below his average. He scored 38 points when the Stallions defeated San Clemente 77-66 on Jan. 22.

    San Clemente senior Kai Van Olst’s defense on Hodges made Hodges work for those 22 points on 21 shots. Tritons senior Carter Christensen was assigned to cover Hodges when Van Olst took a break.

    “We controlled the pace really well,” Fernandez said. “We didn’t let Mason get too hot and that was really the key to the game.”

    Hansen was happy with the outcome Tuesday, although a few missed free throws in the late fourth quarter bugged him.

    “We played hard,” Hansen said. “We grinded it out.”

    ​ Orange County Register 

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