TROPHY TIME

Soccer champions crowned as Cathedral Catholic (boys) and La Jolla Country Day (girls) win Open Division titles in basketball.

A Beon Riley fastbreak dunk followed by a basket inside by Obinna Anyanwu gave Cathedral Catholic a seven-point lead early in the fourth quarter, a lead the Dons made stand up en route to a 59-51 win over Torrey Pines in the San Diego Section Open Division championship game before a nearcapacity crowd of 4,250 Saturday night at UC San Diego’s RIMAC Arena.

“It went the way we wanted with the win,” said Riley, who will play next year at Hawaii. “We never want to leave anything behind. Some people love us. Some people hate us.

“It doesn’t matter to me.” Cathedral Catholic (24-7) outscored Torrey Pines (26-4), winners of 15 in a row before Saturday, 34-23 in the second half.

Torrey Pines led 28-25 at the break. The lead changed hands eight times and the game was tied twice in the first 16 minutes.

Cathedral Catholic turned the deficit around and led 39-34 after three quarters, outscoring Torrey Pines 14-6 with the Falcons turning the ball over six times in the quarter.

Anyanwu finished with 18 points and six rebounds.

Thomas Notarainni, who had seven fourth-quarter points, including a corner 3pointer, had 16 points.

“Winning the Open Division is on a different level than last year (when the Dons were the Division I champions),” Notarainni said. “It’s extra special to me because my brother (Marco) plays football at Torrey Pines.

“I’m going to smack talk him after this.”

Riley finished with eight points.

“Last time (the earlier meeting, won by Cathedral Catholic) they were comfortable taking shots,” said Anyanwu. “We wanted to make it tougher on them.

“Our lockdown defense was much better.

“This is the greatest day of my life. I always wanted to be at Cathedral, and I always wanted to be right here.”

Brandon Angel led Torrey Pines with 16 points, grabbing nine rebounds. Chris Howell was the only other Falcons player in double figures, finishing with 12 points and eight rebounds.