Skip to content
Author

SAN CLEMENTE – San Clemente’s lead and comfort level had evaporated. Troy had surged ahead by six points with a minute left to play.

It seemed determined that the Warriors would leave with a surprising victory. But the Tritons came up with one more push, and Blake Birmingham pulled the game out of the fire.

Birmingham scored six points, with two and-one plays in the final 16 seconds to lift the Tritons to a win over Troy, 57-56, in a nonleague game at San Clemente High on Friday.

“One of the craziest games I’ve ever been in,” Birmingham said. “I don’t even know. I just kept playing. I’m kind of speechless. It was all kind of a blur.”

Roberto Medrano cut the deficit to four with a basket, and coming out of a timeout, Birmingham converted an out-of-bounds play. His ensuing free throw made it a one-point game with 16 seconds left.

“Blake is obviously our guy. We like him getting to the rim,” San Clemente coach Marc Popovich said. “He made a great play right there. Then we made a great play on our press, got to get keep the momentum going. It was just a helter-skeleter that last minute.”

Troy (7-8) made one of two free throws, and Popovich didn’t call a timeout, wanting to keep San Clemente (10-7) moving.

The Tritons looked for a 3-point shot but fed Birmingham, who drove into pressure, drew a foul and knocked down a fadeaway to tie the score, 56-56, with 3.9 seconds left.

Birmingham stepped to the line for the deciding shot.

“I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous,” Birmingham said. “I knew I had to finish it for my guys because we played so hard on the offensive end, on the defensive end.”

Birmingham hit the free throw, giving him a game-high 18 points.

San Clemente started the game with an 11-4 run, and pushed its lead to 12 points before reaching halftime with a 33-24 lead.

Nick Rubia led Troy with 13 points, and Alec Sinek made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points.

“In the first half, we handled things,” Popovich said. “We moved the ball well. We shared it really well. We dominated on the glass.”

Troy turned on its scrappiness to open the second half.

The Warriors battled on the boards and pushed back to tie the score, 40-40, with 1:36 remaining in the third quarter. Troy outscored San Clemente, 16-9, in the third quarter.

“In the second half, their pressure got to us,” Popovich said. “We got stagnant. It was just everything fighting against each other.”

San Clemente got the lead back on a buzzer-beater in the third, but Troy kept pushing and took the lead, 45-42, on a Alec Sinek 3-pointer. Sinek made three 3-pointers for 11 points.

Troy’s lead reached seven points, but it couldn’t seal the win in the final minute.