SANTA CLARA >> The Bellarmine boys soccer team looked unstoppable — for about 10 minutes.

The Bells, the top seed in the Central Coast Section Division I bracket, were getting whatever they wanted against third-seeded Everett Alvarez, scoring two early goals to take control of the section title game at Santa Clara University.

But in the aggregate, the final 68-plus minutes belonged to the visitors from far-away Salinas, who imposed their will with a goal before halftime and three more in the second half.

When the dust settled, the shell-shocked Bells had to swallow the disappointment of a 4-2 championship loss that was hard to fathom based on what had taken place just more than an hour earlier.

“The boys set the tone early, pressing pretty hard,” Bellarmine coach Conor Salcido said. “We caught them on the back foot. Both goals in the first 12 minutes were solid, really good pressing goals that our guys took that extra breath right before taking their shot and buried both of them.

“Once they scored that goal, it felt like, ‘OK, this team is a legit group.’ Our guys recognized that. And then once the start of the second half happened, that momentum shift was just hard to get our feet under us after that.”

Bellarmine (17-3-3) couldn’t have asked for a better start. The Bells jumped to a 1-0 lead on Gregory Gutierrez’s goal in the fourth minute, then doubled it when Gutierrez set up Nathan Johnston with a perfect pass across the middle of the 18-yard box.

Everett Alvarez (21-0-2) re-established itself in the 16th minute, when Fernando Matias controlled a through ball and pushed a shot past Bellarmine keeper Drew McClelland to get the Eagles back in the game.

From then on, the field was slanted in favor of Alvarez.

“Bellarmine is a top team, and whenever you see a team like that, you commit mistakes, they’re gonna capitalize,” Alvarez coach Gabriel Campos said. “There’s no doubt about it. But we’ve seen that scenario a couple times this season, where we’ve been down against a good team, and we’ve been able to wiggle through to find the appropriate actions to get us back in the match. And that’s exactly what took place.”

Bellarmine’s last best chance to change the momentum came in the 47th minute. Thomas Dumont found a through ball at his feet and was one-on-one with EA keeper Alvaro Reyes, but he was stoned and did not score.

Three minutes later, EA’s Luis Macias drew a foul on a run in the box and cashed in the ensuing penalty kick, tying the score.

It was a harbinger of things to come. The Eagles dominated possession from then on, eventually taking the lead on Edwin Moreno’s goal in the 67th minute. Then, in the 75th minute, Jorge Hernandez added an insurance goal for good measure after Bellarmine turned the ball over in its own 18.

“There’s a lot of guys that were obviously pretty upset,” Salcido said. “But we lost to a good team. At no moment in that game did I think we didn’t play our style and we got overpowered. They’re just a good team. I mean, they really are a solid group of players. When I saw them start warming up, I’m like, ‘OK, this is gonna be a fun game.’ ”

The Division I championship was Everett Alvarez’s second CCS title in two seasons. The Eagles also won the Division III crown last year, which was their first section title in a 30-year school history.

Bellarmine’s Friday night ended with bitterness, but the Bells’ season doesn’t have to conclude that way. Bellarmine will now await its draw in the CIF NorCal regional championships, which begin on Tuesday. The matchups will be announced today.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Alhambra wins NCS D5 in season turnaround

Three weeks ago, Alhambra didn’t resemble anything close to a section title contender.

The Bulldogs finished the regular season two games under .500 and placed ninth out of 12 teams in the Diablo Athletic League with wins over Miramonte, Berean Christian, Mt. Diablo and Concord — all teams that finished in the bottom third of the DAL.

But something clicked for the Martinez school in the playoffs. Given the No. 2 seed in the North Coast Section Division V bracket, Alhambra rattled off three straight wins to reach the title game.

And on Friday night, the Bulldogs looked every bit of a championship team.

Alhambra pulled off a historic 50-41 win over International-San Francisco at Kezar Pavilion to capture its first NCS basketball title.

Senior center Chael Collins scored a team-high 12 points with 18 rebounds. Samuel Gillaspy finished with 10 points, followed by Jaimison Krause with eight, Jerimy Sullivan with seven and Torrance Avery with five.