Estancia clipped in final second

Steve Virgen

It seemed the Estancia High boys basketball team responded to

every run that visiting Santa Ana put together. But, in the end, the

Eagles had no answer for Santa Ana senior guard Brandon McGee.

McGee, who scored a game-high 34 points, nailed his eighth

three-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining, leading the Saints to an

edge-of-your-seat 64-62 Golden West League victory over host Estancia

Friday.

“It’s frustrating because we thought we had them at times,”

Estancia Coach Chris Sorce said. “We just didn’t go for the jugular.

We knew (McGee) was their best player and we still let him beat us.

We had two guys in his face (on McGee’s final shot). We did

everything we could to stop him.”

McGee, who was 8 of 13 from three-point range, scored the Saints’

final nine points on three-pointers. He scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and shot 5 of 5 from beyond the arc.

Leading 62-61, the Eagles had one foul to give and Estancia senior

Matt Cachola slapped at McGee with 5.9 seconds left to set up the

game’s dramatic ending.

McGee, with two defenders on him tightly, elevated for a jump shot

near the top of the key and swished in the three-pointer, leaving 1.7

seconds for the Eagles. Estancia (11-5, 1-1 in league) had one chance

to heave a pass to half court, but it was tipped and a desperation

shot did not come close to hitting the rim.

“When I threw it up, I knew it was going in,” McGee said. “I was

feeling really good tonight. I felt like I was in the zone.”

Estancia led by as many as 10 (49-39) after Cachola made three

straight free throws following a foul while shooting a three-pointer

with 2:56 left in the third quarter. But the Saints (9-6, 2-0) came

within, 49-43, scoring the four final points of the period. Then,

McGee took over in the fourth.

Estancia had four players in double figures, as senior Zack Novak

led the way with a career-high 18 points. Estancia senior center Joey

Lindquist scored 14 points, while Cachola added 12 and sophomore Carlos Pinto contributed 10. Junior Jordan Stroman came off the bench

and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, and Pinto had seven boards.

The Eagles trailed 8-0 after the first 90 seconds, but came back

to lead, 17-15, at the end of the first quarter. Novak scored eight

points in the second period to lead the Eagles to a 36-28 halftime

lead.