SANTA CRUZ >> Another Cinderella squad stands between Santa Cruz High’s boys basketball team and a repeat trip to the California Interscholastic Federation NorCal Regional finals.

The No. 3 seed Cardinals had all five starters reach double digits in scoring and dispatched No. 6 St. Patrick-St. Vincent of Vallejo 84-61 in the second round of the Division IV regional playoffs on Thursday night.

Santa Cruz (20-11 overall), the Central Coast Section D-III champion, will host No. 15 Lincoln (23-9), the San Francisco City Section champs, in the semifinals on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Mustangs followed up their upset of No. 2 Westmont on Tuesday by knocking off No. 7 Casa Roble of Orangevale, 71-68, on Thursday for their 18th win in the last 19 games.

The Bruins had their upset-fueled postseason run end against Santa Cruz.

After finishing fifth in the Tri-County Athletic League’s Rock Division, SP-SV (16-14) won four straight road games as the No. 11 seed to claim the North Coast Section D-IV title, and then beat No. 11 Burbank 78-57 in the first round of the regional.

On Thursday, though, the Bruins ran into what coach Derek Walker called “a buzzsaw.”

“They hit shots at the start of the game, they got the lead and never looked back,” he said. “We were playing catch-up the whole game.”

It was a three-pronged attack that led the Cardinals. Senior forward Guerande Houssin scored 23 points and junior forward DeMarco Hunter and sophomore guard L.J. Legan each had 20.

“Today probably was our best all-around team game,” said Santa Cruz coach Lawan Milhouse. “Five guys in double figures, guys rebounding, guys playing defense, guys making free throws, guys just doing what we needed to do to move on.”

The Cardinals led this one from stem to stern. Kaden Mirtz hit a 3-pointer 30 seconds in and Santa Cruz held a 24-11 advantage by the end of the first quarter.

Mirtz ended the game with 11 points and Mosiah Cumberbatch scored 10.

“Clearly, Hunter was the guy you notice, but 12 (Houssin) and zero (Legan) were absolutely great tonight,” Walker said. “Zero wouldn’t miss, 12 handled the ball and made plays like a senior. They played really good. This time of year, everybody’s good. They played an ‘A’ game and we didn’t necessarily get off to a good start.”

Santa Cruz led 36-25 at the half and widened its edge to 59-44 at the end of the third period on a textbook press break play. Houssin made a buzzer beating basket just in front of the hoop.

“When we take care of the ball, we’re a good team,” Houssin said. “We do panic a bit in those situations, they did have a good press.”

The Bruins continued to press and sent the Cardinals to the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, but Santa Cruz foiled the strategy by going 11-of-15 from the charity stripe over the final eight minutes.

“It took us a second to adjust. Once guys adjusted, we figured it out. We broke it,” Milhouse said. “We started to get a little comfortable with what they were doing. That’s what it’s all about, making adjustments and the guys came out with the win and that’s all that matters.”

By the time Hunter left the game with 1:50 left, the Cardinals had a 79-55 lead. About a minute later, he was joined by the rest of the starters.

“That’s what this program’s about. Last year we were at the same point with all the momentum and we’re going to do it again,” Houssin said. “There’s a lot of pressure to win here. Not a pressure, but this is a culture where we’re here to win. Even as a public school we have that culture.”

Hunter also had 15 rebounds, five assists and five blocks.

“You could tell their intention was to try and stop DeMarco,” Milhouse said. “He still did what he did, but DeMarco is not a selfish basketball player. He shares the ball. He sees his teammates open, he shares it and guys scored.”

Houssin concurred.

“We find a way to play off of him because he draws so much attention from the team and the scouting report is always on him,” he said. “So, if we can build games off DeMarco, we’ll be great.”

Ronald Rhymes led St. Patrick-St. Vincent with 20 points. Isaiah Wilson added 12 and Christian Trusclar 10.