Estancia boys’ basketball is upset by Bishop Diego in CIF Division 5AA quarterfinals

SANTA BARBARA —  The chance to reach the CIF Southern Section semifinals for the first time in 15 years vanished late for the No. 2-seeded Estancia High boys’ basketball team.

By forcing uncomfortable shot selections and trusting its long-range game, host Santa Barbara Bishop Diego stunned the Eagles 49-46 on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Division 5AA playoffs.

Orange Coast League champion Estancia (27-4) suffered its first loss since a 48-45 setback to Santiago on Dec. 13. The Eagles’ 19-game winning streak ended at the hands of a second-place team from the Tri-Valley League.

“I don’t think we’ll make it [to the CIF State playoffs]. We have to get to the semis for that,” said Eagles coach Xavier Castellano, who led Estancia to its first league title and quarterfinal appearance since the 2004-05 season. “But it’s been a great season for these kids. I feel sad for them because they’ve been a joy to coach. They played for one another.”

Estancia was held to just 16 first-half points. In fact, the Eagles couldn’t score past 15 points in each quarter.

Standout Jake Covey was limited to just four early points during the first two quarters. The Cardinals sent their bigs, 6-foot-2 sophomore Tyler Williams and 6-3 sophomore Kai Morphy, at the 6-3 senior, forcing some uneasy shots.

Covey, though, managed to find his rhythm and ended the night with a game-high 19 points. The Eagles found ways to feed him the ball on backdoor plays underneath the basket and lob the ball to his hands for layups.

“We moved the ball a little better. We played at our tempo and we were able to give him the ball,” Castellano said. “But again, the other team played well. They played a great game.”

Brandon Pearson, who scored 20 points in the Eagles’ 60-39 second-round romp at Victorville Excelsior Charter, also struggled at times on the scoring end. The senior finished with 10 points.

At one point, Estancia managed to erase an early 11-point deficit by getting Covey and Pearson more involved. However, the season ended on a costly turnover with 1.7 seconds left to play.

The Eagles, trailing 47-46, had the ball with three seconds to go, but on the inbounds pass, Bo Graham misfired toward a sprinting Marvin Harry, who wound up chasing after the ball before it rolled out of bounds.

Morphy then got fouled and hit two free throws to send the Cardinals to the semifinals, where they will once again be the home team. Bishop Diego (20-11) will play No. 3 El Segundo Vistamar (25-4) on Friday. Vistamar edged Ojai Thacher 60-57 in the quarterfinals at St. Mary’s Academy in Inglewood.

Morphy kept calm at the free-throw line while hearing the Estancia crowd trying to rattle him through noise.

“Just slowing my heart rate down and then putting my shot in,” Morphy said. “It feels really good. Just knowing I can hit my free throws, that’s all we can ask for.”

Morphy finished with 17 points. Matthew Cunningham followed with 14 points for Bishop Diego.

Cardinals coach James Coronado said his team never wavered from its approach against the red-hot Eagles. Bishop Diego turned to defense and the three-point game, despite missing five of its first six shots from behind the arc. Morphy led the Cardinals with four three-pointers.

“We knew they were going to be tough,” Coronado said of the Eagles. “We got a little lead, and I kept telling [my players] during timeouts to stay focused. We made enough plays to win. That was a hell of a team.”

CIF Southern Section Division 5AA playoffs

Quarterfinal

Bishop Diego 49, Estancia 46

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Estancia 10 – 6 – 15 – 15 — 46

Bishop Diego 11 – 8 – 16 – 14 — 49

E – Covey 19, Pearson 10, Sparks 5, Bishop 4, DeBrum 3, Harry 3, Andres 2.

3-pt. goals – DeBrum 1, Sparks 1, Harry 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

BD – Morphy 17, Cunningham 14, Chan 6, Williams 5, Streett 5, Trejo 2.

3-pt. goals – Morphy 4, Cunningham 2, Chan 2, Streett 1, Williams 1.

Fouled out – None

Technicals – None.

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