ANGELUS LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Patient Servite Grinds Out Victory Over Santa Margarita

After enduring a season full of frustration and disappointment, Servite boys’ basketball team finally returned to that grind-to-a-halt style of play that helped the Friars win a State and Southern Section title over the last two seasons.

Servite, unranked in Orange County, used its patient, methodical offense to upset sixth-ranked Santa Margarita, 72-59, in an Angelus League game Friday night at Santa Margarita.

Servite (10-10, 3-3 in league) built a five-point lead in the third quarter and pulled away in the fourth quarter by hitting 10 of 15 free throws.

“This is the way Servite used to play,” Friar Coach Richard Smith said. “Get ahead, then make them pay.”

The Friars did just that as Santa Margarita’s high-scoring offense fell apart in the fourth quarter. The Eagles scored only 12 points on four-of-10 shooting from the field and two-of-seven free-throw shooting.

“They didn’t shoot well toward the end and we were rebounding,” Smith said. “That was the difference.”

The Friars, who avenged a one-point loss to the Eagles three weeks earlier, were led by senior guard Matt Kenney, who finished with 19 points, including four three-pointers. Kenney had only two points in the first meeting between the teams.

“Matt had some problems in the first part of the league season because he was sick with the flu,” Smith said. “He’s just now starting to get his wind back.”

Dan Bathey had 17 points and Mike Carpenter added 15 for Santa Margarita, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Servite’s balance.

Adam Anderson scored 15 points, including seven on fourth-quarter free throws, Eddie Rubio scored 16 and Ryan Dodd 10 for the Friars.

“That (balance) was typical of our play last year,” Smith said. “We had one guy (Anderson) averaging in double figures and three other guys around nine points.”

Servite held a big advantage at the free-throw line, making 20 of 30 attempts to Santa Margarita’s 11 of 18.

After the game, Smith was hesitant to place much emphasis on the victory, even though it was over Santa Margarita (17-4, 4-2), one of the county’s better teams.

“I wouldn’t exactly call this a comeback,” Smith said, “because we have been here before. No matter what happened to us this season, we were still confident. We just haven’t played well at times.”

In another league game:

Mater Dei 73, St. John Bosco 48--Mater Dei (22-1, 6-0), the top-ranked team in Orange County, increased its Angelus League lead to two games with the victory at Ocean View High School.