Vista del Lago's varsity boys’ basketball season to remember is now a memory.

The Eagles suffered a 65-57 home loss Thursday to El Cerrito in the Northern California quarter-finals.

"It’s a season to remember,” Vista senior guard Hayden Lescault said, choking back emotion following the hard fought loss. The Eagles’ MVP played his final game with heart and character keeping Vista in the game to the very end.

Lescault led the Eagles with 19 points. Mike Young added 13 points and Demarcus Wishom chipped in 12 points.

We give a lot credit to El Cerrito,” Vista coach Jeff Bridge said. “They played a tough zone defense and they doubled up Hayden. We were more disappointed with our lack of defensive effort tonight.”

Vista led 41-38 after three quarters, but the lead soon evaporated from El Cerrito’s physical defensive intensity, which stymied the Vista offense. El Cerrito began the fourth quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 49-41 lead. Lescault’s 3-pointer with 3:06 left in the game gave the Eagles their first points of the fourth quarter and narrowed the Gauchos lead to 49-44.

The Eagles made a final push in the last minute of their season. Lescault scored on a driving layup to bring Vista within 60-55 and then Young hit what appeared to be a three to narrow the Gaucho lead to only three with just 24.9 seconds left at 61-58. However, the officials ruled Young's shot was only a two-point basket and the Eagles never recovered with El Cerrito pulling away with the win 65-57.

The Gauchos were led by junior point guard Bobby Syvanthong. Standing only 5 feet, 7 inches, Syvanthong scored 14 points, driving the lane and hitting several crucial free throws to ice the win.

In the first quarter, both teams struggled offensively. El Cerrito did not score until 5:22 left in the first.

Kalib Smith and Young hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Eagles a 10-7 lead with only 1:31 left in the first. The Eagles held on to a narrow 12-10 ending the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Eagles’ trapping defense opened a 21-14 lead forcing numerous turnovers. However, the Gauchos fought back, scoring a shot at the halftime buzzer to cut the deficit to 26-23.

Starting the second half, Wishom made a slam dunk tip, which ignited the student body section of the Eagles’ nest. Then the offense heated up with both sides scoring at will.

Wishom tied the game a 33 with a basket at 4:46 and both teams picked up their offensive pace. The Eagles lost their 41-38 third quarter lead for good with a Gauchos’ 3-pointer at 6:04 left in the fourth. El Cerrito's suffocating defense allowed its offense to open up, widening the lead in the fourth quarter.

Vista’s season ended with a 28-4 record.

“Our team's play overall this season is the standard by which all Vista teams in the future will have to measure up," Bridges said.