COMMUNITY COLLEGE STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL : One Half Is Enough for Rancho Santiago to Take Home Title

IRVINE —  It took only one good half of basketball for Rancho Santiago College to win the state title Saturday night.

The Dons built a 16-point lead in the first half and went on to a 72-65 victory over Chabot in front of about 1,200 in UC Irvine’s Bren Center.

The Dons led, 41-25, at the half and maintained a lead of nine or 10 points for most of the rest of the game.

It was the first state championship for Rancho Santiago, which had reached the title game only one other time. The Dons lost to Long Beach in 1959.

Rancho Santiago finishes with a 32-3 record, the best in its history. The Dons became the first Orange County team to win the men’s basketball state title since Cypress in 1980. Chabot (26-8) became the first team to lose consecutive state title games since Long Beach in 1973-74. The Gladiators lost to Cerritos, 85-76, last season.

Matt Lien, Rancho Santiago’s sophomore center, was the offensive standout Saturday, scoring a game-high 29 points. He was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Lien scored 25 points in the Dons’ 86-66 quarterfinal victory over American River Thursday. And he had 18 Friday as the Dons defeated El Camino, 81-70, in the semifinals.

“It was obvious our first half did it for us,” Rancho Santiago Coach Dana Pagett said, fighting back tears. “In the second half both teams looked a little tired. But this is just a great feeling, to be the champions.”

The Dons pulled away in the first half despite having starters Alvin Loftis and Corie Blount on the bench late in the half because of foul trouble.

Blount got his third foul and went to the bench with 5:40 left in the half. Loftis picked up his second foul 40 seconds earlier and didn’t return either.

Despite playing without two starters, Rancho Santiago went on a 14-0 run led by Lien, who scored eight points in the streak. He finished with 18 points in the first half.

Lien added 11 points in the second half. He was nine of 22 from the field and made 11 of 14 free throws in the game.

“Corie and I have tried to pick each other up all year,” Lien said. “The coaches said that I just should keep shooting.”

John Guerrero, a 6-foot sophomore guard, came off the bench in place of Loftis to get seven first-half rebounds.

Blount returned in the second half to score six of his 10 points.

Sophomore Gene Altamirano scored 13 points and had a game-high seven assists. Freshman guard Vern Broadnax added 11 points.

Altamirano and Blount were also named to the all-tournament team.

Chabot’s last real chance came with 10:47 left when Tony Amundsen hit a three-pointer to cut the Dons’ lead to 53-46. But Broadnax hit a five-foot baseline jumper and Blount scored on a lay-up and the lead again was up to 11.

After that, the teams traded baskets until it was time to cut down the Bren Center nets.

Tournament Notes

The south team won the first state all-star game, 140-127, which was played before the championship game Saturday. Rashone Lewis of Fullerton scored 16; Alex Kreps of Golden West had eight, and Cypress’ Vince Hizon added 7. Keith Randolph of MiraCosta scored 27 to lead the south. Bryan Thomasson of Skyline scored 26 to lead the north. Joe Small, a former prep star at Bolsa Grande who plays at College of the Sequoias, scored 23 for the north.