Renaissance finally reigns

At the onset of the second quarter, Cal Lutheran (20-4) began to fall behind in the face of too many Wildcats steals, too many extended Renaissance possessions — thanks to eight first-half offensive rebounds — and too much Cantinol.

The senior center was a beast inside, grabbing two offensive boards and bullying his way to the hole at will through clusters of blue jerseys throughout the first half en route to finishing with 12 points in the first half, which led all scorers at intermission.

"We knew we had to do it for [Cooke] and all he did for us these four years," Cantinol said.

Renaissance's key 9-0 run to begin the second quarter started with a pair of free throws by Cantinol, who was fouled while attempting a putback. Marquise Mosley (11 points) then knocked down a three-pointer, the Wildcats' first make from distance of the game.

Cantinol followed with a drive to the basket through a crowd before nabbing a steal at midcourt and feeding De Guzman for a layup that made it 22-10 with 4:45 left in the first half.

Cal Lutheran didn't score until center Ryan Smith's jump hook with 4:19 to play in the second.

"We just were patient," De Guzman said. "We knew the nerves would calm down and we would start hitting our shots because we were getting good looks at it."

The Wildcats' full-court press began to break down the C-Hawks in the second quarter. Cal Lutheran had nine turnovers in the first half and finished with 18, including three steals apiece for Cantinol and Gerrick Uneau.

"We told them we can't have 20 turnovers and win a game and that's pretty much what we had," C-Hawks Coach Dave Peter said. "I think in the heat of the moment, we just stopped moving and we had a lot of guys who were standing around instead of moving to the ball and screening for each other.

"We worked all week on the pressure, it was just one of those things where in the big-game stage our guys just didn't remember to move their feet as much as they should have."

Renaissance led, 30-20, at halftime and went on a 12-3 run to begin the third as Cantinol continued to abuse his counterpart, the 6-foot-8 Smith (13 points), who began the third period with three fouls.

Cantinol opened the period with a deft spin move around Smith for a layup and repeated the move two minutes in to give Renaissance a 37-22 lead.