San Diego Section basketball roundup: Torrey Pines beats La Costa Canyon 55-50 to capture tenth straight league championship

Here's a breakdown of the league championship races that were decided in the final week of the season.

The boys and girls basketball regular seasons wrapped up in the San Diego Section on Friday night and several league championships were decided. Here's a breakdown of the league championship races that were decided in the final week of the season.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Torrey Pines 55, La Costa Canyon 50

• Box Score

Torrey Pines, the 3rd ranked team in the SBLive's San Diego Section boys basketball top 10, jumped out to a 15-8 lead over fourth-ranked La Costa Canyon but found themselves trailing 30-25 at halftime.

The Falcons erased an eight-point deficit in the third-quarter and locked in defensively, holding the Mavericks scoreless during a 13-0 run that encompassed the final minute of the third quarter and the first six minutes of the fourth quarter.

"I just know this team and we can grind out on defense," Torrey Pines senior forward Otto Landrum said. "We had that nine-minute stretch where I don’t think they scored a point and I don’t expect anything less from our team at least guarding wise and I think that’s what always keeps us in the game.”

After Torrey Pines built up a nine-point lead in the closing minutes, La Costa Canyon clawed back with six straight points to cut the lead to just three points with 18 seconds remaining. The Mavericks were forced to foul and sent sophomore Zach Jackson to the line who calmly knocked down two free throws to seal the win.

“It was similar to the last game towards the end," Torrey Pines senior guard Logan Huston said after scoring a team-high 20 points. "They sort of pressed us and we turned the ball over a lot but the key part of this team from the beginning of the year has just been to grind out wins and we came in at halftime and locked in. It’s always gonna be a battle against a rival like (La Costa Canyon) and we had a great crowd out there, one of the best crowds in the country I’d say, but it’s always fun to battle against them.”

For Torrey Pines, the win meant a tenth straight league championship and the 47th consecutive home league win, dating back to the 2012-13 season.

“Every single year we go to war with (La Costa Canyon)," Landrum said. "...This is a hell of a (La Costa Canyon) team that we beat but this is a hell of a team we’ve got here."

The win was extra special for Landrum, who finished his Torrey Pines career with a perfect 28-0 record in league play.

“I didn’t know what Torrey Pines was when I moved here," Landrum said postgame after registering his 14th double double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. "I got extremely lucky, I knew who coach (John) Olive was because of a Team USA coach that I knew in Colorado Springs, and I ended up here and I never expected anything to be like this."

The Falcons will await their playoff positioning on Saturday morning, likely as the three in the Open Division.

Mission Hills 47, San Marcos 37

Mission Hills found themselves trailing by 14 points early before San Marcos star senior guard Devon Arlington left with an injury. The Grizzlies were able to recover and flip the script coming all the way back to win, 47-37. Mission Hills was led by twin senior forwards Justin and Jayden White. The duo combined for 27 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Grizzlies to the outright Palomar League championship.

Patrick Henry 58, High Tech San Diego 42

The Patriots took care of High Tech to win their fifth straight and clinch the outright City League championship. They’re in the mix for a seed between two and six in the Division 2 playoffs.

Rancho Buena Vista 64, Sage Creek 61

Rancho Buena Vista came back from a nine-point first quarter deficit to deny Sage Creek an opportunity at the Avocado League championship. San Dieguito Academy was off on Friday after wrapping up the regular season on Tuesday night against Sage Creek but wraps up the regular season with a 7-1 record as the outright Avocado League champions.

Helix 58, West Hills, 37

Grossmont 70, Mt. Miguel 47

The Highlanders and the Foothillers both won their regular season finale in the Grossmont-Hills league to complete a share of the league championship, though the Foothillers won both games against Helix in league play.

Monte Vista 75, El Capitan 66

The Monarchs took down El Capitan on the final night of the regular season to move into a share of the Grossmont-Valley League title with Steele Canyon, who was idle on Friday night. The Monarchs and Steele split their two regular season matchups.

Mt. Carmel 76, Ramona 62

Mt. Carmel used a big fourth quarter to pull away from Ramona and complete a perfect 10-0 run through the Valley League. The Sundevils are in the mix for a top-four seed in the Division 2 playoffs.

Escondido Charter beat Calvin Christian 67-52 on Thursday night to clinch outright Pacific League title. It’s the first boys’ basketball league championship in school history.

St. Augustine and San Ysidro, two teams that will be in the eight-team Open Division playoff bracket, wrapped up their outright league championships earlier in the week.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

La Jolla Country Day 78, Bishop’s 40

The Torreys handled the Knights without any problems, winning 78-40 to clinch yet another Coastal League title.

Cathedral Catholic 80, Scripps Ranch 52

The Dons forced Scripps Ranch into 22 turnovers and led by 24 points at halftime and cruised through the second half for the win. The Dons are expected to be the three-seed in the Open Division playoffs, behind La Jolla Country Day and Mission Hills.

El Camino 51, Mission Vista 35

El Camino beat Mission Vista to wrap up an unbeaten North County Coastal League championship. The Wildcats will enter the playoffs on a 14-game winning streak and are expected to face Mt. Miguel in the first round of the Open Division playoffs after losing to the Matadors early in the season.

Mt. Miguel (Grossmont-Hills), Bonita Vista (Metro), and Oceanside (Avocado) all won with ease on Friday night to wrap up undefeated league championships.