SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO >> The San Juan Hills boys basketball team outlasted Aliso Niguel 54-52 in a thrilling Sea View League game Friday at San Juan Hills High.

San Juan Hills (17-3, 1-0) trailed by six points entering the fourth quarter. A combined 14 points from Jacob Simon and Mark Reichner combined with air-tight defense led the Stallions to a comeback win.

The score was tied with under three minutes remaining when Reichner got an offensive rebound in traffic and scored to give the Stallions the lead. Simon and Thomas Hattan also had second-chance points late in the game for the Stallions.

Aliso Niguel (15-5, 0-1) trailed by two with 20 seconds remaining and a San Juan Hills foul sent an Aliso player to the free throw line to shoot a one-and-one. He missed the free throw but the Wolverines rebounded the ball and drew another foul. The shooter missed a free throw and Aliso trailed by one with 10 seconds remaining.

Mason Brehmer made a free throw for the Stallions to put the lead back at two and Aliso was unable to convert a buzzer-beater to end the game.

“It was a really big win,” San Juan Hills coach Jason Efstathiou said. “Neither of us probably played our best game but it was big. Our league is tough, all four teams are solid.”

Simon had a team-high 13 points for the Stallions and Reichner added 12.

Efstathiou said that the capacity crowd on Friday was the biggest crowd he has ever seen at a game at San Juan Hills and credited the crowd for the team’s late surge.

“We’ve never seen a crowd like this,” Efstathiou said. “It’s great because it shows the school is noticing the team. I know in the end that their energy helped the guys.”

Aliso Niguel was led by its two stars, Tyler Weaver and Brandon Novida. Weaver, who has a scholarship offer from UC Riverside, had 25 points and eight rebounds. Novida had 17 points.

Despite the scoring from Weaver and Novida, San Juan Hills was able to force turnovers with its full court press and zone defense in the half court.

“It’s hard to keep his (Weaver) scoring down, especially when he gets to the free throw line that many times,” Efstathiou said. “Novida is so good in transition and off the dribble. Thankfully we had a few guys step up in the fourth quarter and match them.”

The story of the game was the tight officiating. Both teams were in the double-bonus in each half, each team had a player foul out and multiple players had four fouls by the time the game was over.

“This game was tough but at the same time I’ll always take consistency,” Efstathiou said of the officiating. “Overall they were pretty consistent in terms of calling little touch fouls. I would have liked a game that let loose a little more, but I’m glad it worked out for us.”

The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for Aliso Niguel.