WANTS IT BAD—Senior guard Zac Hepps, left, of Calabasas High hits the floor for a loose ball during the Coyotes’ CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA quarterfinal playoff victory over Lakeside on Tuesday night at home. CHS travels to Torrance for Friday’s semifinal game. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers Drops of blood stained Jon Palarz’s right sleeve.

The blood wasn’t from Palarz, the head coach of the Calabasas High boys’ basketball team.

It was from senior guard Zac Hepps, who gashed his chin while diving for a loose ball.

Hepps and the Coyotes weathered the first jabs from a feisty Lakeside squad, but Calabasas responded with the decisive uppercut in a 70-56 win in the CIFSouthern Section Division 3AA quarterfinals on Tuesday.

“It’s the playoffs,” said Hepps before heading out to the hospital to get stitches.

“Nobody wants to lose and go home. We’ve worked too hard. We want to keep playing.”

Senior center Holden Israel paced Calabasas with 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting while corralling 10 rebounds.

Sophomore point guard Jeremy Lieberman and senior guard Spencer Levy added 17 and 14 points, respectively.

Joshua Cohan ripped down 12 rebounds.

The Coyotes (25-3) play at Torrance (16-13) on Friday night at 7 in the semifinals. A trip to the title bout at the Anaheim Convention Center will be on the line.

Against the Lancers of Lake Elsinore, Tuesday night was all about survival.

Lakeside played at a frenetic pace, forcing turnovers and clawing for every loose ball.

“They weren’t playing dirty,” Israel said. “They were playing hard.”

Once Calabasas settled down into its halfcourt offense in the second quarter, the Coyotes hammered the Lancers with brute inside strength.

Although Calabasas trailed for most of the first half, Israel notched eight points in a 10-2 run to help Calabasas surge ahead 32-27 with 2:07 remaining in the second quarter.

Lakeside (18-11) never regained the lead.

“Going into the season, we never expected (Israel) to be this dominant,” Lieberman said.

“He has a wide body and he finishes every time. He has probably the best hands of anyone I’ve played with.”

Israel patrolled the post like Marc Gasol, finishing an assortment of moves in the paint while calmly draining 7-of-8 free throws.

“The game plan was to go to him early and often,” Palarz said of Israel. “He did a great job of finishing.”

While Lakeside made hustle plays early, Calabasas created momentum swings at the end of each quarter.

Levy and Austin Smith drilled 3-pointers to close the first and second quarters, respectively.

Levy drained two more trifectas in the final two minutes of the third period.

Hepps’ charge on Melvin Washington with 4:28 remaining in the fourth quarter sapped the life out of the visiting Lancers: Washington fouled out on the play and the Coyotes retained a 61-51 cushion.

“I’ve been taking charges since I was a freshman,” Hepps said. “I knew their point guard had four fouls. I got to the spot.”

Hepps’ grit impresses his teammates.

Lieberman said the senior is the team’s “tough guy” who does all the dirty work.

Israel said Hepps’ charge lit a fire under the home crowd, which was tepid for most of the night.

“Our fans here weren’t very loud,” Israel said. “After that, they got into it.”

Junior wing Alex Monsegue came up with a spectacular highlight by blocking Michael Christener’s fastbreak layup attempt into the cheap seats with 2:24 left in the fourth.

“That was insane,” Israel said of Monsegue’s rejection. “That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. He’s a freak of nature. That was so amazing.”

Monsegue was frustrated for most of the night after picking up two quick fouls guarding E.J. Jackson, who led the Lancers with 20 points.

But Monsegue and the Coyotes had the last word.

Calabasas has lost only one close game this season, to Westlake on a miracle off-balance jumper from Grant Lozoya.

“We’re battle-tested,” Palarz said. “Knock on wood, we’ve been successful in crunch time.”

The Coyotes will have their dukes up for Torrance, which slipped past Agoura 63-60 in the second round.

“It’s about taking punches and giving them back harder,” Hepps said, “so you don’t fall down.”