Lipovic's 18 Points Snaps Mission Viejo's 18-Game Winning Streak

Aleks Lipovic scored 18 points on Wednesday night, but the last three were the biggest of his high school career.

The Capistrano Valley senior made a three-point basket with 31 seconds remaining to lift the Cougars to a 46-43 South Coast League victory over Mission Viejo.

it wasn't just any victory, either. The victory snapped Mission's 18-game winning streak.

Coming into the game, Capistrano Valley was ranked No. 1 in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1A poll, and Mission Viejo was No. 3. The Orange County Register had Mission ranked second and Capo third behind Mater Dei—which had beaten both teams.

The crosstown rivals will play again in the last game of the season, Feb. 9, but for the moment Capistrano Valley (18-2, 4-0) is positioned to unseat defending champ Mission Viejo (18-2, 3-2).

Lipovic led all scorers as Capistrano Valley came back from a 42-34 deficit less than a minute into the fourth quarter. He scored seven points in the fourth, and sparked the comeback when he scored twice in a one-minute span, on a drive to the basket and then with a 15-footer that made it 42-38. Johnny Bates, who finished with eight points, made a three-point basket to cut the deficit to 42-41 with 4:17 to go.

Michael Cramer's free throw for Mission Viejo extended the lead to 43-41 at 1:58, but Stephen Short tied the score at 43-43 with 1:37 left.

Evan Zeller scored a team-high 13 for Mission, but he was turned away with 14 seconds remaining when Short blocked his layup attempt.

Capistrano Valley employed "a rinky dink 2-3 zone," said Coach Brian Mulligan, who said it was rare for his team to depart from a man-to-man defense. Mission had so many good athletes, he said, he wanted to throw them a curve. Turned out, Mission whiffed.

Lipovic called his game-winning basket part of "a scattered play" but he was able to dribble to the right wing and launch over Max Redfield.

"It felt right right when it left my hands," Lipovic said of his winning shot. "It was kind of a scattered play but we made something out of it."

Did they ever. Cramer, who Mulligan called a "Cougar killer" during his high school career, missed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer; it bounced off the front of the tim. Cramer finished with nine points after scoring six in the first quarter.

Cramer's follow on a missed shot gave Mission Viejo its 42-34 lead with 7:06 left in the game. Then it went downhill.

"As soon as we got up eight, I think we took a breath and I don't think we needed to," Mission Viejo coach Troy Roelen said. "I asked them to stay aggressive, and I think they took their foot off the gas a little bit because when we finished, we scored one point in the final four minutes. That's not going to get it done."

Actually, it was worse than that. The Diablos scored one point over the final seven minutes. And no, it didn't nearly get it done.