CHULA VISTA — Trailing by 13 late in the fourth quarter, Preuss UCSD star player Mahad Hassan “thought we were done.”

“We were talking back to each other, then Coach (Rasean Simpson) called a timeout and settled us down,” he said. “He said, ‘Play like it’s 0-0.’”

The Tritons were a different team from that point on, scoring the tying basket on a Nahom Abaynen reverse layup at the buzzer to tie the game and send it into overtime.

The top-seeded Tritons outscored Coastal Academy by six in OT, winning 66-60 to capture the CIF San Diego Section Division 5 boys basketball championship at Otay Ranch High School.

The first boys basketball title in school history sends Preuss UCSD to the Southern California Regionals. The pairings will be announced Sunday afternoon.

“The play wasn’t for me,” Abaynen said of his tying basket. “It was supposed to go inside to (Yohanes) Solomen, but they collapsed on him. So I had to attack the basket.

“And no, I’ve never made a bigger basket.”

The Tritons forced 27 Stingrays turnovers, five in the four-minute overtime.

“Coach put us in our Eagle defense — a 1-3-1,” Hassan said. “I think that may have surprised them. Winning this means so much. It’s the first for the school.”

Hassan was the game’s leading scorer, finishing with 24 points. He also had 14 rebounds.

Abaynen added 14 points and five rebounds. Solomen scored 12 points, six in overtime and six rebounds.

Preston Sterling added 10 points for the Tritons.

Ethan Nowtash led the Stingrays with 18 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 2:51 to play in OT.

Asher Benner, who also fouled out in OT, and Zac Garland both had 14 points. Garland also had 13 rebounds and blocked four shots

Coastal Academy finished the first quarter on a 15-4 run and led by 11 as Preuss made just 2 of 12 shots in the first eight minutes.

Preuss, however, got shots to fall in the second quarter, outscoring Coastal  Academy 17-8 and cutting the 11-point deficit to 25-23 at the break.

Coastal Academy had 12 first-half turnovers to help let Preuss back in the game with starters Ethan Nowtash and Zac Garland on the bench in foul trouble.

With Nowtash and Garland back on the floor in the third quarter, the Stingrays tied the game at 32, then went on a 15-4 run to end the quarter.