RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — Tesoro’s boys basketball team survived a late rally by San Clemente to beat the Tritons 67-63 in a crucial South Coast League game Wednesday at Tesoro High.
Both teams entered Wednesday undefeated in league play with two games against each other remaining.
Tesoro (21-3, 4-0) is ranked No. 23 in Orange County and San Clemente (13-10, 3-1) is ranked No. 19.
“That’s a big win for us, especially with how well San Clemente has been playing,” Tesoro coach Steve Garrett said. “We are starting over (league play) and you better give your full attention to each game or you’re going to get burned. But I’m proud of the boys tonight. It was a great victory in front of our fans.”
Tesoro led by 10 points entering the fourth quarter but San Clemente rallied to cut Tesoro’s lead to one point twice in the final three minutes of the game.
The Titans led by just two with 31 seconds remaining in the game but senior Anish Pagidyala made six free throws in the fourth quarter to keep San Clemente at arm’s length.
Garrett opted to stick with his lineup that had been playing well for most of the fourth quarter rather than subbing in fresh legs off the bench during San Clemente’s run.
“I told them to commit to playing three minutes of their best defense until they are worn out, and they got really fatigued with how hard they played on defense,” Garrett said. “I probably could have gotten another rotation of guys in there, but once I see a group playing pretty well I kind of ride them out.”
Carson Hatch led Tesoro with 22 points and made six 3-pointers. Hatch and Dean Mika each made crucial 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to end San Clemente’s runs.
Tesoro’s Carson Hatch had a game-high 22 points with six 3-pointers in the Titans’ 67-63 win over San Clemente on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (Photo by Michael Huntley)Hatch scored 13 points in the first quarter, which helped Tesoro build a double-digit lead in the first half.
“He was huge,” Garrett said of Hatch. “And he had to guard Desi (Gutierrez) who is a load. That combination of trying to make it tough on Desi and scoring like he did, he’s fantastic.”
“After I made the first two shots I was just feeling it and feeling the crowd and the energy,” Hatch said. “After that, I was just letting it fly.”
Max Draper had 19 points and 14 rebounds for Tesoro. He was at his best in the third quarter where he scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Mika had 11 points for Tesoro including six in the fourth quarter. Pagidyala scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter.
Gutierrez scored 21 points for San Clemente and grabbed eight rebounds. Bryan Blake scored 17 points for the Tritons and the bench duo of Tyson Christensen and Tyson Stowell contributed to San Clemente’s comeback bid in the fourth quarter.
Tesoro and San Clemente will play each other again in the regular season finale on Feb. 2 at San Clemente.
Tesoro will play Capistrano Valley on the road in a league game Friday. The Titans beat Capo Valley 78-39 on Jan. 7.
San Clemente will play El Toro on the road in a nonleague game Friday. The Tritons won the outright league championship last season.
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