Dorne in Mesa’s side

COSTA MESA — Sage Hill School sophomore Andrew Dorne had the ball, and the game, raised high in his right hand.

After over seven periods of water polo, any decision in the second sudden-death overtime could mean the difference between heading to the playoffs and staying home.

Dorne faked a couple of times then quickly looked behind him. Finally, he skipped in a shot from seven meters to give the Lightning a 10-9 win over rival Costa Mesa on Wednesday at the Mustangs’ pool.

“I was looking for set, because coach was telling us look for set and drive,” Dorne said. “[But] the guy was dropping off me and nobody was open. I faked a couple of times and just decided to shoot.”

The goal, Dorne’s third of the game, helped Sage Hill all but clinch second place in the Orange Coast League and a second straight CIF Southern Section Division II playoff spot. The Lightning (12-3, 3-1 in league) again did it at the expense of the Mustangs (10-8, 1-3), who were virtually eliminated from the playoffs.

Then a freshman, Dorne also scored the goal that knocked Costa Mesa out of contention last October in a 5-4 Sage Hill win.

“Andrew’s a good shooter,” Sage Hill Coach Tom Norton said. “Last year, he scored the winning goal against Costa Mesa at CdM. It’s kind of fitting that he ends up scoring the winning goal this year, as a sophomore.”

But as the afternoon wore on before a big crowd, the game also turned into an exercise in frustration for the Mustangs. In four league games against Sage Hill in the last two years, the Mustangs are 0-4 — despite being outscored by a grand total of five goals.

On Wednesday, Costa Mesa couldn’t hold an 8-7 lead with the ball and 38 seconds left in regulation.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow for us,” said Costa Mesa Coach Justin Taylor, whose team also lost to the Lightning on Saturday in the Estancia Tournament championship game. “Sage Hill’s been a thorn in our side for a long time. We worked hard all year wanting to make the playoffs, and wanting to beat Sage Hill. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like either one is going to happen this year.”

Costa Mesa came out fired up at its home pool, grabbing a 3-0 lead in the first quarter behind three goals from Skyler Twohig.

“The first quarter, we always come out strong,” Twohig said. “We know that’s very important.”

Norton didn’t call timeout. Instead, Sage Hill senior Jimmy Miller then scored two goals a minute apart, and Dorne and Beau Caillouette both scored in the second quarter to give the Lightning a halftime lead.

“It’s kind of like Phil Jackson does with the Lakers,” Norton said. “He lets them figure it out themselves. If you call a timeout, maybe that’ll get them even more down because you’re making a point that, ‘Hey, we’re down 3-0.’ I let them figure it out themselves and they did.”

Sage Hill was up 7-5 in the fourth quarter before Mesa began to rally. Garrett Frazier scored a powerful cross-cage goal to pull the Mustangs within one, and Twohig scored on a six-on-five with 1:50 to go to level the score.

After a Sage Hill ejection with under a minute to go, Dustin Serrano scored on a quick restart to give Costa Mesa an 8-7 lead with just 45 seconds left.

The Lightning committed a turnover, and the game appeared to be in hand for the Mustangs.

But then Costa Mesa committed an offensive foul, and Miller scored a backhanded shot from two meters with 20 seconds left. The goal stunned the crowd and sent the game into overtime.

“When it comes down to it, we practice this stuff over and over again,” Miller said. “This whole week, we’ve been working on this stuff, shots out of set like that. That’s just a shot that needs to be made. I’m so happy it went in. I was actually shocked it went in, I thought it just rolled off my fingers.”

The teams traded goals in the first two overtime periods, and neither team scored in the first sudden-death session before Dorne ended it.

“It’s definitely not easy,” said Lightning senior Ryan Barth, who played solid two-meter defense. “We love to play against them. This kind of cross-town rivalry has been pretty fun.”

In a four-team league, Taylor said his team now will face the unusual scenario of being eliminated from the playoffs with two league games still remaining.

“It’s going to be a good test of character for our kids,” he said. “At this point, we play for pride.”

Sam Edman won seven of eight sprints for Costa Mesa and had two steals. The Mustangs also helped stay in the game by going five for eight on their man-advantages.

Tucker Pettis had a team-high three steals for Sage Hill.

Orange Coast League

Sage Hill 10, Costa Mesa 9 (4 OT)

SCORE BY PERIODS

SH – Miller 4, Dorne 3, Caillouette 2, Pettis 1. Saves – Harold 9.

CM – Twohig 4, C. Serrano 2, D. Serrano 1, Sanchez 1, Frazier 1. Saves – O’Connor 10.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.