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San Juan Hills basketball loses CIF state final with ‘beyond brutal’ ending

March 14, 2026

Alex Osterloh #3 of the Sacred Heart Prep Gators is fouled by Kellen Owens #30 of San Juan Hills Stallions with 1.4 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter boys Division III CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Saturday, March 14, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)

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SACRAMENTO – San Juan Hills sophomore Kellen Owens only wanted to challenge the shot.

He did, and, it was ruled, more than that.

Owens was called for a foul on Sacred Heart Prep sophomore Alex Osterloh’s missed 3-point shot at the top of the key with 0.3 seconds left in the tie game.

Osterloh made two free throws and San Juan Hills lost to Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton, 47-45, in the CIF State Division IV boys basketball championship game Saturday at Golden 1 Center.

After the foul on Osterloh was called, San Juan Hills coach Jason Efstathiou turned and walked down the sideline away from the scene.

Watching the play live and reviewing video, it was difficult to evaluate how much contact there was from Owens to Osterloh. Osterloh fell backward to the floor on his follow-through.

“Legit or not,” Efstathiou said, “that one kills you.”

“To have it decided that way is beyond brutal,” Efstathiou said. “That’s nothing about the refs. I’m talking about the situation.”

The Stallions’ only hope after the Osterloh free throws was a long inbounds pass that some San Juan Hills player could tap in. But the pass was too long, went out of bounds beyond the baseline and that was that.

Owens did not regret giving his defense on the Osterloh shot his best effort.

“It’s the last play so I’m going to give it my all,” Owens said. “But I have to do better to not put that call in the referees’ hands.”

It was the first CIF State boys basketball championship game for both teams.

San Juan Hills finished the season 21-15.

The Stallions finished third in the South Coast League and lost in the CIF Southern Section Division 5 semifinals before winning four CIF Southern California Regional games to get to the CIF State finals.

San Juan Hills 6-1 senior guard Garrett Brehmer led the team with 17 points. Brehmer was 6 for 8 on all shots, 2 for 2 on 3-point tries and 2 for 2 at the free-throw line. Stallions 6-4 senior guard Rocco Jensen scored 10 points.

Jensen went into the game averaging a team-high 21 points and had scored 95 points over the Stallions’ four Southern California Regional games.

With Sacred Heart Prep 6-4 sophomore guard Matthew Osterloh sticking to him wherever Jensen went, Jensen was not as involved in the Stallions offense as he usually would be. Jensen took his first shot with 3:29 to go in the second quarter and scored his first points off of an offensive rebound 12 seconds later.

“When you’re being guarded heavily like that,” Jensen said, “you have to find different ways to contribute. Scoring isn’t everything. There are other things you can do to be a great player.”

Jensen had a team-high eight rebounds, three assists and blocked three shots.

Owens scored eight points with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Alex Osterloh led Sacred Heart Prep (21-11) with 15 points. Point guard Pat Bala scored 13 points

San Juan Hills contributed to its downfall with 19 runovers and by giving up 15 offensive rebounds to the Gators.

“We turned the ball over way too much,” Efstathiou said. “Nineteen turnovers, that’s insane.”

The Stallions’ largest deficit was 12 points, 22-10, in the second quarter. Sacred Heart Prep had a 24-17 lead at halftime.

San Juan Hills got its first lead of the game, 40-38, with 5:36 to go in the fourth quarter on a Brehmer driving layup.

The Stallions led by four points, 45-41, when Oliver Sandor scored off of an offensive rebound with 2:05 to go. Alex Osterloh put in a driving left-handed layup to make it 45-43 and he tied it with two free throws with 1:15 to go.

The Stallions missed a couple of shots after that before Alex Osterloh was fouled on his 3-point shot and made two of the three free throws.

Efstathiou said that while the loss, and the way the loss happened, stung, the Stallions players created a lasting memory for themselves by playing in a CIF State championship in an NBA arena, the home of the Sacramento Kings..

“They’ll look back at it fondly,” he said. “There’s some distaste, but we got here.”

San Juan Hills basketball loses CIF state final with ‘beyond brutal’ ending Orange County Register

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San Juan Hills basketball loses CIF state final with ‘beyond brutal’ ending

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