The last seconds of the game were playing out just the way San Marcos wanted for a comeback win Tuesday in the Santa Barbara Holiday Classic basketball tournament.
Trailing by five against Clovis West, Thayer White sank two free throws and Doni Nahmias stole the ball and drove in for a layup to cut the deficit to one (45-44) with 30 seconds remaining.
The Royals fouled and Clovis West missed the free throw. Nahmias got the ball with eight seconds to go, raced down court and put up an off-balanced shot that missed the mark, leaving San Marcos on the short end of a 45-44 score.
Clovis West moves on to the tournament bracket final and will play Leuzinger, a 61-55 upset winner of top-seeded Ocean View.
In the pool-play portion of the tournament, Santa Barbara lost to Northwood 76-62 and Arlington edged Agoura 70-68. With a 2-0 record, Arlington plays Northwood (1-1) Wednesday for a berth in the final against the bracket champion.
With Clovis West bombing 3-pointers, the Golden Eagles built a a 38-29 lead. But San Marcos hung in against the CIF Central Section power behind the inside play of Christian Mkpado, Thayer White and Johnny Manzo.
The Royals (10-3) got a big break in the fourth quarter when Chad Ridenour hit a 3-pointer and the Golden Eagles were called for a foul underneath, sending Mkpado to the line. He converted two free throws to cut a nine-point deficit to four.
But Clovis West was able to hang on and escape with the win.
Santa Clara-bound Denzel Johnson led the Golden Eagles with 17 points and Charlie Thompson added 11.
Mkpado scored 11 points and White 10 for the Royals. Manzo grabbed 15 rebounds.
In the Santa Barbara game, Nick Cope scored 24 points to lead Northwood. Emilio Gonzalez scored 17 for the Dons, who were hit with 22 personal fouls and had coach Chris Hantgin ejected with two technical fouls.
