Bellarmine subdued a late comeback attempt by Santa Teresa and came away with a 49-43 victory over the Saints in the championship game of the Central Coast Section Division playoffs Saturday afternoon at Santa Clara High.
The Bells (19-9) led by 12 heading into the final period before Santa Teresa (17-11) put together a furious rally to pull within one at 38-37 with five minutes to play. But a key 3-pointer by Danny Schatzman stemmed the tide and the Bells re-established control.
Grant "Boo" Vermeer led Bellarmine with 12 points and Blair Mendy added nine. Santa Teresa was led by Jason Garabetian (14 points) and Tajai McGehee, who scored five of his 12 points during the 10-0 fourth-quarter rally that trimmed the deficit to one.
By reaching the final, both teams guaranteed a trip to the NorCal playoffs. Bellarmine opens play as the No. 4 seed with a home game Wednesday night (7 pm) against Lincoln-San Francisco. Santa Teresa, the 12th seed, travels to Oakland Tech to take on No. 5 McClymonds Wednesday night (7:30 pm).
