BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Santa Clara Streaks Past Santa Paula, 63-62

Perhaps the 100 or so people outside the Santa Clara High gym in Oxnard on Tuesday night had a sense of what would happen inside.

They stayed, even after the Frontier League boys’ basketball showdown between the Saints and Santa Paula began, hoping they would be let inside.

They missed Santa Clara extending its unbeaten streak in league play to 87 games with a 63-62 victory in double overtime, but the Saints had to rally from a seven-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter before an overflow crowd of 1,500.

“This was probably about the toughest (in the streak),” Santa Clara Coach Lou Cvijanovich said. “But it was a win and we’ll take it.”

Kevin Collins, who had 14 points, sank two free throws with 1 minute 9 seconds remaining in the second overtime for the winning points.

“It came down to conditioning,” Collins said. “(Their players) played the whole game and we were still ready to go.”

Santa Paula senior Chris Cannon had a chance to win the game with four seconds left in the second overtime, but missed two free throws. Teammate Ben Tryk (14 points) rebounded the second missed shot but couldn’t hit a five-footer at the buzzer.

Cannon scored 14 points, all in the second half and overtime.

Santa Paula (14-2, 2-1 in league play) had trouble from the line in both overtimes. The Cardinals missed six of seven free throws in the overtimes and four starters played the entire game.

Santa Clara (11-6, 3-0) rallied from a 49-42 deficit with six minutes to play in regulation. Matt Weidman scored all five of his points in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

Santa Paula could have won in the first overtime, but senior guard Manuel Escamilla missed the front end of two one-and-one opportunities with the score tied in the last seven seconds.

Escamilla struggled most of the game but all three of his three-pointers came at opportune times and helped the Cardinals rally from a 12-point deficit late in the first quarter. Escamilla finished with 13 points, but was three for 11 from three-point range.

Junior Adam Lopez scored 16 points for Santa Clara and senior Damein Smith added 10.