El Capitan High boys basketball team’s bid for first section title comes up short.
A remarkable playoff run by the El Capitan High boys basketball team that took it to the brink of its first section title fell just short.
With two defenders in his face, Gauchos senior Diego Ultreras struggled to launch a potential tying three-point attempt at the buzzer as the shot fell short and top-seeded Christian Brothers celebrated a 59-56 victory in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship at Golden One Center in Sacramento on Friday night.
“I think they knew the ball would be put in my hand for the last shot,” said Ultreras, who led El Capitan with 22 points. “They just executed well and you just have to tip your hat.”
The locker room was somber after the Gauchos came so close to their first blue banner.
“I’m just hurting for these guys right now,” said El Capitan coach Adrian Hurtado, whose team fell to 20-11. “They did what they have to do to get to this position. I forgot how many miles we traveled because we were away, away, away. These guys were resilient and they played really, really, tough basketball.”
As the No. 10 seed, El Capitan hit the road for all three playoff games, upsetting No. 7 Beyer, No. 2 Placer and No. 6 Burbank on its journey to Golden One Center.
By the time they returned to Merced on Friday night, the Gauchos had traveled 836 miles for four playoff games.
The local heroes were worthy of the grand sendoff the school and community gave them with a police escort when they left for the game Thursday night to travel today early for the section final.
“We were doubted from the beginning of the season and coming into playoffs nobody thought we could get this far, so this was a personal thing for us,” said El Capitan junior Anthony Jones, who finished with seven points and 18 rebounds against Christian Brothers.
The Gauchos took it to the Falcons (25-7) early, jumping out to a 21-7 lead after the first quarter.
Hurtado was getting contributions from up and down his roster, with seven different players scoring in the first half.
However, Christian Brothers closed the second quarter on an 8-0 run with the help of two 3-pointers by Stephan Hewitt that came in the final 55 seconds to help the Falcons make it 32-32 at the half.
Hewitt finished with 19 points and Daniel Powers turned in 25 points and 10 rebounds for Christian Brothers.
“We just got out of character for two minutes in that second quarter,” Hurtado said.
The game was tight, with the Falcons leading 47-45 after three quarters. The Gauchos suffered from some tired legs as they opened the fourth quarter with a scoreless drought that lasted 4 minutes and 20 seconds.
The Falcons opened up a 58-51 lead with 1:14 left, but the Gauchos cut the lead to 59-56 with 15.8 seconds left after Ultreras nailed a 3-pointer and Elias Ruiz (10 points) converted a steal into a basket.
The Gauchos just couldn’t get the miracle shot to tie it at the buzzer.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Ultreras said. “This is something you work for all year and you come up three points shorts. It’s just tough.”
The Gauchos’ season isn’t over, though, with a berth in the state playoffs awaiting. The playoff matchups will be announced Sunday.
“The good thing is this is not the end-of-the-year speech,” Hurtado said.
