ALAMEDA – Alameda High coach Cameron Quick grabbed his clipboard before the overtime period started Saturday at the CIF Division II Northern California boys basketball title game.

“Then I put it down and said, ‘There’s nothing there I can draw. It comes down to us wanting to extend the season and go on to state,’” he said.

The Hornets rewarded their coach’s faith in them, outscoring St. Mary’s-Stockton by 10 points in the four-minute overtime period to win 76-66 in front of a raucous standing-room-only crowd on their home court.

“We’ve still got one more, and we’re playing to win it,” said Alameda senior guard Benno Zecic, who scored a team-high 17 points Saturday, including seven in the overtime period.

Alameda (28-5), the No. 1 seed in the CIF Division II Northern regional, will face Crossroads-Santa Monica (24-9) in the Division II state championship game at 4 p.m. on Friday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. It’s the first time in school history that the Hornets have reached a CIF boys basketball state championship game.

“Crossroads is good. Shareef O’Neal is an excellent player,” said Quick, referring to Shaquille O’Neal’s son who plays for Crossroads. “For us, it’s an honor to be in this game, but we are going to prepare the same way … We can’t play with fear.”

The Hornets certainly didn’t play with fear Saturday, especially in the overtime period.

St. Mary’s (26-9), the No. 2 seed, trailed 57-51 with two minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter after Alameda’s Sam Wettergren sank a 3-pointer. But the Rams scored six straight points, including a dunk by Bryce Johnson that sent the game into overtime.

“We felt the atmosphere change, but we didn’t let that affect us. We kept our mental focus strong,” Zecic said. “We’ve been in that situation before. We’re used to it.”

St. Mary’s opened the overtime scoring with a basket by Jamar Marshall, its first lead in the game. But Alameda quickly answered with a drive for a layup by Wettergren, who finished with 13 points.

Alameda then took the lead for good on a layup by Zecic. Then Ryan Cibull grabbed a steal on St. Mary’s next possession and Zecic nailed a 3-pointer for a 64-59 Alameda advantage with 2:31 left in the overtime period. It was part of a 12-2 run to start the overtime that gave Alameda the lead to stay at 69-59.

“Benno’s been our leader. He should have been the MVP of the league,” said Quick about the 6-2 Zecic. “He’s been carrying us all year. … That’s what we expect and need from our point guard that’s been here for three years.”

Alameda took a 6-0 lead to start the game and held a 17-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter. St. Mary’s stayed close and trailed only 29-25 at halftime.

But Alameda took a 44-33 lead with 1:47 left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by reserve Andre Smith, who scored 14 points in the game. That would be the highest Alameda’s lead would get, as St. Mary’s battled back to force overtime. For more Bay Area high school sports coverage follow Bay Area Preps on Flipboard.

Alameda had four players score in double figures – Zecic, Smith, Wettergren and Cibull, who had 12 points.

“We have so many weapons on the floor at once, that can shoot, that can drive,” Zecic said. “We don’t have a single person that’s like our key player. We’re all part of the win every game.”

Smith, a 5-11 senior guard, grabbed nine rebounds in the game. He also sank three of his four free-throws in the overtime period.

Teammate Kingsley Obiorah hauled down a team-high 11 rebounds in addition to scoring eight points, including three in overtime. Alameda had four players with five or more rebounds, as Zecic and Noah Schwartz had five each. Zecic also had three assists and three steals.

“We have so many weapons on the floor at once, that can shoot, that can drive,” Zecic said. “We don’t have a single person that’s like our key player. We’re all part of the win every game.”

The 6-7 Johnson had a big game for St. Mary’s. The junior scored 18 points and grabbed a game-high 20 rebounds for St. Mary’s. Tre Jenkins III also produced 18 points to join Johnson as scoring leaders for the Rams.