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| La Costa Canyon 65 Torrey Pines 51 |
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CARLSBAD – La Costa Canyon won its first league title last night, but as long as Chase Budinger has eligibility left, it probably won't be the last.
The fourth-ranked Mavericks rode a superb all-around game by Budinger to a 65-51 victory over visiting Torrey Pines to nail down the Palomar League title.
Budinger, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, did quite a bit of everything, finishing with a game-high 28 points as well as 12 rebounds, five assists, three steals and a blocked shot.
"It wasn't just Chase tonight; obviously he was a handful," Torrey Pines coach John Olive said. "They all stepped up. Kids that needed to step up in a big-time situation did. That's why they won."
One of the biggest was Sean McDonough, who came off the bench to score 16 points, including four three-pointers. McDonough scored eight of those points during a 13-6 spurt in the second quarter that turned a 10-10 tie into a 23-16 advantage for La Costa Canyon (20-6, 8-2).
McDonough hit two more threes during a run of eight unanswered points bridging the third and fourth quarters that bumped the lead up to 14 points, and the Falcons were never able to get the deficit into single digits after that.
"Sean certainly stepped up and those threes were back-breakers I think," La Costa Canyon coach Dave Cassaw said. "Especially when you look at the first quarter and how slowly we started. It wasn't much to watch."
Indeed, the teams combined to miss the first 11 shots of the game before Torrey Pines' Michael Laughlin (20 points) scored on a short bank shot nearly three minutes into the game. A standing room crowd probably contributed to the early jitters as the teams came into the game tied for first.
The Mavericks won the first meeting 42-41 on Jan. 28 at Torrey Pines.
J.J. Anderson had 14 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots for the Falcons (17-10, 7-3).
"The little extra hustle plays worked for us, too," Cassaw said. "Diving for loose balls, going out of bounds and getting second efforts on the glass."
Torrey Pines actually enjoyed a slight edge in rebounding in the first half and trailed 27-23 at intermission. But La Costa Canyon had an 18-4 advantage on the boards in the second half as it pulled away.
The signature play of the game for Budinger came with 3:17 to play in the third quarter when he drove the right baseline and quickly elevated for a ferocious dunk to give the Mavericks a 40-29 lead. Then he displayed his versatility when he hit a three-pointer from the left wing about a minute and a half later.
