Mission Viejo – With a trip to the state JC basketball tournament’s final four on the line, two teams familiar with each other battled Saturday night.
The difference proved to be the sharpshooting efforts of freshman guard Dusty Baker.
Saddleback pulled away from San Bernardino Valley at Saddleback College and won, 53-32.
Saddleback (31-2) advances to the CCCAA final four, which begins on Friday at Cerritos College. The Gauchos are the No. 1 seed from the South and will face the lowest-seeded team from the North.
Baker finished with a game-high 21 points, hitting 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
The Gauchos used a 16-0 run midway through the first half to turn a 10-10 tie into a 26-10 advantage. That run helped snap SBVC’s 20-game winning streak.
Collin Host added 10 points and eight rebounds for Saddleback, which had a 40-29 rebounding advantage over SBVC.
Charles Callison scored a team-high 16 points for the Wolverines and was the only scorer to finish in double figures for SBVC.
Despite boasting the state’s best defense and holding Saddleback well under its postseason average of 88.5 points, the Wolverines never really challenged, managing to shoot just 23 percent from the field.
The Gauchos handed SBVC (31-3) all of its losses, including two in the regular season.
Baker hit three more 3-pointers later in the second half that ultimately put the game out of reach for the Wolverines.
East L.A. College defeated Long Beach City in another regional semifinal, 92-73.
