Cougars Surprise Eisenhower, 66-61

Capistrano Valley advanced to a Southern Section final for the first time since 1992 with a 66-61 upset of second-seeded Rialto Eisenhower in a Division I-AAA boys’ basketball game Tuesday night at Rialto High.

The Cougars (27-3) will meet Upland in the final Saturday at the Arrowhead Pond.

Capistrano Valley used a 14-0 run in the third quarter to move ahead, 42-33. Jeff Gloger then made an off-balance hook shot at the buzzer to put the Cougars up by 11 points heading into the fourth quarter.

Eisenhower (27-5) cut the lead to five with just over two minutes remaining, but the Cougars made enough free throws down the stretch to maintain a comfortable lead.

“They played harder than we did,” Eisenhower Coach Steve Johnson said. “They did the best job of boxing out against us than anybody all season.”

Pete Decasas paved the way for Capistrano Valley, scoring 14 of his 19 points in the second half. Jake Franzen scored 17 and Gloger and Bryan Mallon each had 12 for the Cougars.

“We played good team defense and good team offense,” Gloger said. “That’s the style we’ve been playing all year.”

Eisenhower took its biggest lead of the game, 25-18, after consecutive three-pointers by Dante Rouzan in the second quarter, but Capistrano Valley came back with an 8-0 run to move ahead, 26-25, with 1:05 remaining in the half.