FRESNO -- Rocky Peterson knew it was finally Westlake's opportunity to shine.

Even with Saugus' A.J. Yarnall and Rodrigo Ornelas putting the pressure on the Warriors in the final mile Saturday in the Div. II boys' state championship race, Peterson was still confident Westlake's moment in the spotlight would finally be realized.

Once Graham Rigby crossed the finish line 29 seconds behind Peterson, it was only a matter of time before the Warriors' dream was realized.

Despite Saugus mounting an impressive rally from a projected 45-point deficit with one mile remaining, the Centurions' comeback effort fell just short, with Westlake capturing its first state championship following an 84-97 victory at Woodward Park.

"Each team has their time. I felt like it was T.O. in the 1990s and Royal a few years back, but this was our opportunity and I don't see why they can't do it again next year," said Peterson, who covered the 5-kilometer course in 15 minutes, 46.7 seconds to place 17th.

"After we won last week, it was like, We can do it, this is real. But we have to go out and take it. And we didn't settle until we were on top."

Yarnall posted the fastest time by a Saugus runner at the state final to take second in 15:09.7, trailing Dos Pueblos' Bryan Fernandez, who captured the title in 15:08.3.

His effort equaled the best finish by a Foothill League runner at the state championship meet, matching the success of Canyon's Dave Hartman (1990) and Luke Llamas (2001). Yet, even Yarnall's performance, along with a 14th-place finish by Ornelas (15:40.1) wasn't enough for the Centurions to sweep the Div. II team championships, with the girls capturing their record seventh in a row.

"What can you do? We tried so hard and we did the best we could do," Yarnall said. "I'm really proud of how much we were able to accomplish and how far we came as a team. (Westlake) is a fierce group and they were just better than us. But they're great sportsmen and they have a lot of character and we respect them."

Although the Centurions finished runner-up for the second time in three seasons, Saugus boys' coach George Serrano praised Westlake for its consistency and class.

"We lost to an unbelievable team," Serrano said. "I have no problem being second. There's nothing wrong with being No. 2. It's a great achievement."

Mikey Giguere (15:47.4) was 20th, Sean O'Bryan (15:57.4) took 26th, Chris Costa (16:00.3) placed 30th and Rigby (16:15.3) finished 51st for Westlake, which returned to the state meet for the first time since 2008.

"I think we made a name for ourselves," Giguere said. "It feels so good because we've improved all year and our time gap has become so much smaller. I can't thank our coaching staff enough. They did an amazing job making sure we were prepared. We just had to believe it was possible and give it all we had."

Anthony Janaslani (16:10.3) was 42nd, Alex Pearson (16:14.6) took 48th and Billy Anthony (16:14.9) finished 50th, but it wasn't enough for Saugus to break up Westlake's pack.

Golden Valley's Nolan Del Valle, who helped the Grizzlies capture a Div. II state title last year, returned to finish 15th in 15:40.4.

Flintridge Prep led for the first two miles of the Div. V final, only to be edged 86-87 by St. Joseph Notre Dame of Alameda, denying the Rebels their first state championship since 2004. Desert Christian, led by a 16th-place finish from Andrew Starksen (16:20.3), was 10th with 257 points.

Elias Ellison (16:09.8), Aaron Sugimoto (16:15.8) and Jack Van Scoter (16:18.5) were 12th, 13th and 14th for the Rebels, who had Alan Yoho (16:36.0) place 29th and Tyler Fong (16:58.9) finish 48th.

"This course is good for us. Our freshman Jack had an amazing race getting up with the top guys," Sugimoto said. "I think we did a good job racing it. Whatever happens in the end, we did a great job and I'm still proud of all of our guys."

Buckley's Nicholas Martin (16:19.6) was 15th in Div. V, Crescenta Valley's Gabe Collison (15:29.5) placed 13th in Div. I and Crespi's Joe Joe Cortez-Adams (16:02.8) took 12th in Div. IV, with Harvard-Westlake finishing 12th with 333 points. El Camino Real was 21st in the Div. I final with 621 points.

Oak Park's Sahm Bazargan (15:37.3) was seventh in Div. III, leading the Eagles to a fourth-place finish with 195 points. Patrick Thedinga (16:00.7) was 25th for Oak Park.