HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Cole Finishes Off Whittier Christian

Chris Cole scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the final three minutes as Santa Clara High defeated Whittier Christian, 57-50, in a boys’ Southern Section IV-AA Division basketball game Friday night at Whittier College.

Cole, a 6-foot-4 junior, made all three of his field-goal attempts and all five of his free throws during the closing minutes. He also led the Saints, champions of the Frontier League, with eight rebounds. He added three assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

“We had too many offensive weapons for Whittier Christian,” Santa Clara Coach Lou Cvijanovich said. “Whittier Christian is a fine team, but once we got ahead, we were able to pull them out of their zone defense.”

Whittier Christian (15-12) was ahead, 16-14, after the first quarter but top-seeded Santa Clara (23-4) scored the first seven points of the second quarter and led, 21-16, with 5 minutes 8 seconds left in the half.

Santa Clara led at the half, 32-28, and never trailed thereafter.

Santa Clara led by four points or more for all of the second half. Santa Clara’s biggest lead was 55-45 with 1:03 left.

Ruben Oronoz of Whittier Christian scored a game-high 23 points. He was 11 of 19 from the field and also had eight rebounds.

Art Barron scored 14 points and Stevie Amar had 11 points and seven rebounds for Santa Clara, which is ranked second in the region by The Times.