DANA POINT — The Dana Hills boys basketball team beat El Toro 93-84 in a two-overtime thriller Friday at Dana Hills High to take control of the race for the Sea View League title.
Dana Hills (16-7, 4-2) pulled ahead of El Toro (14-11, 3-3) in the league standings after two rounds of league play. Each team in the league will play each other one more time next week to wrap the regular season.
The Dolphins have not won a league championship since 2014.
“All these guys are fantastic coaches and we all know what everybody does, so it’s a matter of the ball going your way,” Dana Hills coach Tom Desiano said of the competition in the Sea View League. “We’ll find out next week what all four teams are made of and who has the most left in the tank.”
Ashton Rico made a go-ahead layup with 11 seconds remaining in regulation for the Chargers.
Dana Hills sophomore Collin Haugh, the team’s leading scorer, took an inbounds pass, dribbled to his left and made a baseline shot to tie the score with 1.5 seconds remaining.
Collin Haugh of Dana Hills makes the game-tying basket with 1.5 seconds left in the game. Dana Hills and El Toro are tied. El Toro timeout and ball. @ocvarsity @SouthOCsports @dhhs_athletics @SteveFryer pic.twitter.com/uWIHZwVLk8
— Michael Huntley (@mikehuntley63) January 28, 2023
After trading baskets in the first overtime, Dana Hills pulled away in the second overtime with 3-pointers by Dennis Powers and Cole Davison.
El Toro kept it close, but Haugh and Logan Scodeller made their free throws at the end to give Dana Hills the crucial league win.
“These are the games that we have come to expect in the Sea View League and every game is a battle,” Desiano said. “There is no team that is dominant, which makes it fun but nerve-wracking. It’s been a wild ride.”
“Every time we got a little separation tonight, they came back and hit some big shots to answer.”
Haugh led all scorers with 33 points and made five 3-pointers. He entered play averaging 23.6 points per game, which is the most in the league.
“He’s got the mindset that he is going to will us to a win,” Desiano said of Haugh. “Kids like him are rare.”
Scodeller had 25 points for the Dolphins and had three assists during the overtime periods. Niki Grguric, a transfer from JSerra, had 15 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
Rico led El Toro with 20 points, including a nine-point fourth quarter. Khari Mcintosh had 17 points before fouling out in overtime and Cade Pacini had 12 points with two big 3-pointers in overtime.
Guard Christien Jimenez filled the stat sheet with 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for El Toro.
El Toro led 31-30 at halftime but the Dolphins went on a 12-2 run to start the third quarter. Scodeller scored 13 points in the third quarter for Dana Hills but Rico scored nine and was able to keep the game close.
Both teams shot very well from 3-point range in the second half and seemed to trade 3-pointers for most of the game. El Toro made 47 percent of its 3-pointers in the second half and overtime and Dana Hills made 44 percent of its 3-pointers during that span.
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Dana Hills made 14 3-pointers and El Toro made 10.
The Dolphins will begin the last week of league play on the road against Aliso Niguel on Monday. Dana Hills lost to the Wolverines in its league opener but beat them 61-50 last week.
El Toro will play at Mission Viejo on Monday. The Chargers split their first two league games against the Diablos.