ONTARIO — San Dimas got hot at the right time, winning its final two regular-season games, then riding that momentum all the way to the CIF Southern Section Division 3A championship game.

But an aggressive and determined Aquinas team used a ferocious defense to cool off the Saints for a 59-41 victory Saturday in the 3A title game at Toyota Arena.

Aquinas (17-16) frustrated San Dimas (20-12) throughout the game, holding the normally potent Saints offense to its second-lowest point total of the season. The Falcons held San Dimas to just 33% shooting overall and 5 of 20 from 3-point range.

“Obviously it didn’t go the way we wanted,” San Dimas coach Jeremy Ketterling said. “They (Aquinas) are kind of who we thought they were. They played really, really good defense and made it tough on us. They’re very physical.”

After the game, Aquinas coach Daryl Pegram praised San Dimas before discussing his own team’s performance.

“We watched a lot of film on (San Dimas) this week,” he said. “They’re a very, very good program. Excellently run. Very well coached. (Ketterling) knows what he’s doing over there. It was a privilege to play against a good team like that. Because of how good they are, they brought out the best in us.”

The Saints got to the championship game thanks to two big offensive games in a row. San Dimas beat Providence of Burbank 65-64 in overtime in the quarterfinals then blew past Norte Vista 74-65 in the semifinals.

Pegram said he knew the Saints could score and gave his team the challenging goal of trying to limit San Dimas to 40 points.

“I’m upset we gave (San Dimas) that extra one,” Pegram said jokingly after the game. “We knew if we could keep them to 40 or below we would have a good chance to win this game. We set goals like that for every playoff team. We pride ourselves on defense. It takes a really committed athlete to say, ‘You know what? We’re going to defend every single possession.’ We said 40 points and we meant it.”

San Dimas was led by sophomore center Jeremiah Garzon’s 10 points. Junior guard Angelo Fares scored nine points, while senior leaders Luke Chavez and Nathan Yearout were held to seven and six points, respectively.

The Saints and Falcons were tied 9-9 at the end of the first quarter, but Aquinas pulled away in the second, outscoring San Dimas 22-6 in the period to go into halftime ahead 31-15.

“I think we just have to be ready at the beginning of every single quarter,” Chavez said. “I think at the beginning of the second quarter we just had a lot of turnovers. I feel like we weren’t there mentally, and I think if we can fix that we can make another run (in the CIF State playoffs).”

Aquinas built a 20-point lead, 35-15, in the third quarter before San Dimas battled back. Fares hit back-to-back 3s then Yearout hit a 3 to cut the deficit to 35-24. Aquinas though held steady with a 12-point lead, 43-31, at the end of the third quarter.

The Saints surged to start the fourth quarter and cut the Falcons’ lead to 45-38 with 5:39 remaining when Chavez hit a turnaround bank shot while being fouled. He then hit his free throw for a 3-point play.

Aquinas pulled away after that. Marcus McGeilberry came off the bench to nail a 3-pointer to put Aquinas back up by 10 at 48-38. San Dimas would get no closer as Malachi Jones took over for Aquinas. Jones scored seven of his game-high 17 points in the final minutes.