San Marcos turned on the jets in the fourth quarter and nearly found a way to win at Westmont College.
But Ontario’s Colony High held off the Royals and escaped with a 69-67 boys basketball win at Murchison Gym.
After taking a 2-0 lead out of the gate, the Royals (9-4) trailed the No. 3 team in CIF Division 2AA for the bulk of the game.
Down 58-56 midway through the fourth quarter, 6-foot-9 inch Jackson Stormo willed the ball into the hoop while being wrapped up by three Titan defenders, getting a foul called in the process.
“Their defense was tough, but what it came down to was my guys looking for me and getting open,” Stormo said. “We wore them down.”
Stormo knocked down the ensuing free throw to give San Marcos the lead, but Colony (8-3) charged back.
The Titans and Royals went back and forth the rest of the way, with neither team taking more than a four point lead.
David Frohling knocked down a jumper for San Marcos to tie the game at 65 with 1:07 left, but Colony responded immediately, as Alex Ochoa found a lane to the hoop and dropped in a layup. Ochoa scored 26 points on the night.
Down 67-65 with less than 30 seconds remaining, San Marcos’ Stefan Korfas found a crack in Colony’s tough interior defense, connecting on a floater that again tied up the game, sending the crowd in Murchison Gymnasium into a frenzy.
The celebration came all too soon, as Ochoa received a pass in the lane and heaved up a ball off the glass that somehow fell in, giving the Titans a 69-67 lead. San Marcos inbounded and heaved up a desperate half-court shot that didn’t fall.
“Stefan handled the ball well the whole game, we got him on a good look and he put it in,” said Boucher of Korfas’ game tying shot. “After, we were just trying to find our man. Their guy [Ochoa] made an unbelievable shot and they bested us by putting two points on the board at the right time.”
Stormo was heavily guarded all night long, and triple teamed whenever he had the ball. He still managed to put up 20 points against the smaller Titans.
“They have really good team defense,” praised Boucher. “Games like this are good because we’re seeing where we need to improve. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Frohling scored 12 for the Royals, and Avery Artigo added seven, including two fourth-quarter three pointers.
Boucher said he game was good preparation for Channel League play, which is shaping up to be very competitive. “We want to be battle tested by the time we get into league.”
“It’s a brotherhood,” Stormo said of his team. “We are going to bounce back, and we might see these guys in the playoffs. I hope so.”
— Noozhawk sports reporter Christian Eckert can be reached at ceckert@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports and @noozhawk. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.