Orange Lutheran figured Windward would catch up and was confident Windward would not keep up.

Lutheran’s big early lead eventually became a fourth-quarter deficit before its fast-paced style allowed it to finally blow past Windward of Los Angeles in the fourth quarter for a 78-71 victory in the CIF-Southern Section Division 4AA boys basketball championship game Wednesday at Anaheim Convention Center.

It is Orange Lutheran’s first CIF-SS championship in boys basketball. Orange Lutheran was 0-3 in previous section finals, including a three-point loss to Price of L.A.

The season for Orange Lutheran (25-7) continues Tuesday, with a first-round home game in the CIF Southern California Regionals. The Lancers play in Division 3 of the Regionals, the qualifying tournament for the CIF State Championships.

In the third quarter Wednesday, Windward’s Wildcats (22-8) outscored Lutheran, 22-9, to take a 54-51 lead into the fourth quarter. A succession of Lutheran 3-pointers, one by sophomore Payton Banks and back-to-back bombs by junior Gabe York, soon put the Lancers back on top, 62-56.

Windward cut the deficit to two points once after that, but in the final minute four free throws by Lutheran senior James Douglas and two by senior teammate Scott Baron sealed the victory.

Lutheran outscored Windward, 27-17, in the fourth quarter. The Lancers sprinted downcourt on every possible offensive possession, which Lutheran coach Chris Nordstrom was confident would wear out Windward. While he used nine players Wednesday, Windward used just six.

“We scored 27 points on them in the fourth quarter, and I think some of that was because of fatigue for them,” Nordstrom said. “Our tempo hurt them there. They didn’t play as many guys as we did.”

Douglas, a 6-foot guard who was Lutheran’s leading scorer this season, led the way again with 27 points. He was 10 for 19 from the field, 6 for 7 at the free-throw line, and had team highs of nine rebounds and six assists. York scored 22, including a game-high five 3-pointers.

York banked in two 3-pointers in the first half (On purpose? “Definitely not,” York said.) But the back-to-back 3-pointers he made in the fourth quarter hit nothing but the bottom of the net.

Banks scored 13 points. Lutheran senior Scott Baron grabbed seven rebounds, three on the offensive end.

Wesley Saunders led Windward with 24 points and 13 rebounds.

Lutheran looked good from the start. The Lancers scored eight of the game’s first nine points, and brought a 24-11 lead into the second quarter. Windward cut that lead to two points in the second quarter, but Lutheran closed strong and got their advantage up to 10 for halftime.

Windward started dropping in 3-pointers in the third quarter, including one by Luke Silverman-Lloyd that gave the Wildcats their first lead, 50-49, with 1:45 left in the quarter. Their biggest lead was the three-point edge that took into the fourth quarter.

Douglas said there was no reason to worry about that.

“We knew it was only a matter of time before Windward wasn’t going to be able to keep up,” Douglas said, “especially with their big men trying to run with our big men. Our tempo is really good, and tonight we were able to sustain it for a long time.”

And Lutheran would out-run, and out-shoot, Windward in the final quarter.

Write up courtesy of the OC Register