Santa Fe Christian Bedevils Saints

OXNARD — Take it away.

Lorenzo Harvey and Santa Fe Christian did just that, sending the Santa Clara boys’ basketball team to a 53-48 defeat in a Southern California Regional Division V first-round game Tuesday night at Santa Clara.

The second-seeded Saints (22-5), who had a 16-game winning streak, were done in by 14 turnovers, most of which were the result of steals by the unseeded Eagles (17-12).

Harvey, a quick junior guard, led Santa Fe Christian’s game of take-away and harassing full-court press with five steals and the Eagles scored 16 points on layups after steals.

Santa Fe Christian, the third-place team from the Coastal League and the San Diego Section Division V runner-up, advances to the regional semifinals on Thursday to play Pasadena Poly, a 56-48 winner over Fresno Christian.

“We thought we would have done better,” Santa Clara Coach Lou Cvijanovich said. “If we take better care of the ball and you take away those points [off steals], you’ve got a whole different ballgame.

“The only complaint we have is that we didn’t play better.”

Santa Clara made just 17 of 45 shots, compared to 25-of-44 shooting by Santa Fe Christian.

Brad Beeson has 12 points and B.J. Ward added 10 points and seven rebounds for Santa Clara.

Santa Clara had a 21-20 lead at halftime but there were five lead changes and two tie scores in the third quarter. The Saints lost their lead for good with 2:30 left in the quarter on a driving layup by Jake Washington, who had 11 points, that put Santa Fe Christian ahead, 32-30.

The Eagles took a 36-30 advantage into the fourth quarter and expanded it to 11 points as Dean Vescera, who scored 16 points, had eight in the final eight minutes.

Nick Jones scored five points in the last six minutes and the Saints closed to 47-43 with 2:01 left.

Santa Fe Christian lost the ball but the Saints failed to capitalize, missing four shots, all from the inside.