CARLSBAD — League play is a whole different game.
Carlsbad High School, entering Friday’s game at La Costa Canyon two games under .500, gave the Mavericks all they could handle before falling 52-50 as Caden Hannah’s fourth 3-pointer of the fourth quarter decided the game.
Carlsbad (8-11, 0-1) went on an 18-3 run in the second half to take a 47-37 lead with 3:45 to play. That’s when Hannah went to work as the No. 9-ranked Mavericks cut the deficit to one with 29 seconds to play.A Carlsbad turnover with 20 seconds remaining gave the ball back to LCC.
“The shot wasn’t designed for Hannah,” said LCC coach Dave Cassaw. “They were playing zone, so we had to play zone concepts and see who popped open. It was Hannah, and he hit it.”
It was the second time this season Hannah hit a late 3-pointer to beat Carlsbad, doing it earlier in the season in a tournament. LCC won that game 56-52.
“No question. If the ball came to me, I was hitting it,” said Hannah, who made all four of his 3-point shots in the game. Brady (Bellucchi) is our guy and they took him away. So we had to move the ball and find the open guy.”
After a slow start to the season, LCC (16-5, 2-0) had won seven in a row, including a pair of overtime wins in its two previous games — against Poway and Sage Creek.
“We have a lot of new guys, so we started the season kind of slow,” Hannah said. “This is my first season getting quality varsity minutes. But Dave Cassaw is an incredible coach. He never gave up on us. Hung with us. And here we are.”
La Costa Canyon’s Wyatt Brown (33) shoots past the block of Carlsbad’s Dylan Sims (0) during the first half Jan. 16, 2026 in Carlsbad, Calif. (Photo by Denis Poroy)
La Costa Canyon led by five with 1:50 to play in the first half, but Carlsbad went on a 6-0 run and led 25-24 at the break with Briggs Young getting a steal and a lay-in at the buzzer.
The score was tied four times and the lead changed six times in the first quarter.
“Carlsbad really tightend up that zone defense since we played them earlier,” Cassaw said. “They have a really good team, and played really well.”
Bellucchi and Zeffen Herceg led LCC with 14 points each. Hannah added 12. Big man Mason Jones hada eight points and nine rebounds and was in the middle of Carlsbad’s final turnover.
LCC had just seven turnovers before turning it over five times in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks committed just eight turnovers.
Briggs Young paced Carlsbad with 14 points. Dylan Sims added 13. Jayden Garner had nine points and nine rebounds for the Lancers.
“We’ve played one of the toughest schedules in the county,” said Carlsbad coach Clark Allard. “Because of our success over the years (winning 20 games over each of the last six full seasons), we get the best team in every tournament we enter.”
The Lancers won the CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship in the 2013-14 season and lost in last season’s championship game.
La Costa Canyon has lost only one game to a San Diego Section team this season. falling to Christina in November.
LCC girls win
Trailing by 16 points early in the game, Carlbad’s girls basketball team cut the deficit to four with a minute to play. But LCC made five free throws down the stretch to win 68-60 and secure a North County Coastal League win.
Keani Brown, who averages 16.5 points a game, led No.8-ranked LCC (15-4, 2-0) with 21 points. Lily Lejeune added 17.
Georgia Hawk, one of the top flag football players in the county, led Carlsbad (8-13, 0-1). Allison Di Benedetto, playing in just her fifth game after suffering a preseason injury, had 19. Mallory Huhn added 11 for the Lancers.