BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Santa Margarita Gets the Best of Laguna Beach

Santa Margarita boys’ basketball Coach Jerry DeBusk avoided the term sloppy while describing the Eagles’ 56-45 victory over Laguna Beach Monday in the quarterfinals of the Orange Holiday Invitational.

“Both teams played hard, but it wasn’t the best game for either team,” DeBusk said. “Both teams broke down at times.”

Call it what you will, but Santa Margarita’s eighth victory in nine games was indeed sloppy. How else do you term a game that had four technical fouls, 48 personal fouls, 27 missed free throws and three players foul out?

The game at Chapman University’s Hutton Center went downhill shortly after Santa Margarita (8-1) opened a 16-4 lead with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Eagles made seven of their first nine shots and Laguna Beach never got closer than nine points.

Laguna Beach (6-4) had problems dealing with Santa Margarita’s perimeter defense and seldom got more than one shot against its taller opponent. The Artists didn’t help their cause with eight turnovers in the first quarter.

The Artists had problems matching up with Santa Margarita’s physical front line. Forward Kevin Lewis (14 points, nine rebounds) and center Bryan Young (nine points, nine rebounds) dominated inside and continually frustrated Laguna Beach’s best player, Trigg Garner.

Afterward, DeBusk was asked to characterize his team, which this season has only lost to Capistrano Valley in the semifinals of the Coca-Cola/Converse Classic.

“They remind me a lot of the team I had at Newport Harbor in 1984-85 that finished 24-5,” he said. “They’re great kids who listen, play harder than heck and seem to like each other. I fell into a great situation.”

DeBusk, an assistant at Chapman before replacing Roger Holmes at Santa Margarita, said he’s enjoying his return to high school coaching.

“I don’t feel like I’m in high school being at Santa Margarita,” he said. “There’s a collegiate-like atmosphere at Santa Margarita that I really enjoy.”

In other quarterfinal games:

Marina 65, Kentridge (Wash.) 52--Marina held Kentridge scoreless for seven minutes in the second half. Kentridge center Jeremy Flagel went to the bench after receiving his fourth foul with five minutes remaining in the third quarter and his team trailing, 37-32. When Flagel returned in the fourth quarter, Marina (7-4) had a 48-32 lead.

Kennedy 77, Long Beach Wilson 52--Kennedy used an effective 1-2-2 press that helped force 16 turnovers in the first half and won its sixth consecutive game. Kennedy (7-3) opened an 18-4 lead and was never threatened. Center Pat Kunz had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Irish.

Laguna Hills 45, Fountain Valley 41--Laguna Hills (6-4) had made only two of six free throw attempts in the final minute before guard Aaron Brunstetter made two free throws with one second remaining to seal the victory.

In the first round of the Atascadero tournament:

Valencia 76, Alemany 62--Bill Eubanks and Kevin Deck scored 19 and 16 points, respectively, for Valencia (5-2).

Pacifica 68, Santa Maria 64 (OT)--Junior forward Chris Vlasic had 25 points, including two three-pointers, for Pacifica (4-2).

In the Fiesta Bowl Prep Classic:

El Toro 64, Arizona Mountain View 60--Jim Lewis scored nine of his game-high 27 points for El Toro (4-6) in the fourth quarter of the game in Chandler, Ariz. El Toro led, 30-13, at the half but Mountain View rallied and led by eight points with four minutes left before El Toro’s final rally.

In the Coast Christmas Classic:

Tustin 66, Long Beach Jordan 48--Dejuan Matthews had 26 points for Tustin (9-2) in the quarterfinals. Tustin plays Newport Harbor at 8:40 p.m. in one semifinal.

Newport Harbor 52, Edison 48--Eric Vallely scored 22 points to lead Newport Harbor (7-2) to a quarterfinal victory over Edison (6-3), which got 22 points from Ben Beard.

Irvine 49, Estancia 27--Eric Ambrozich scored 20 points for Irvine in a quarterfinal.

Dana Hills 64, Oregon Parkrose 37--Adam Lasnier scored 18 points, including five three-pointers, for Dana Hills (4-7).

Santa Ana Valley 61, Savanna 58--Anthony Porter scored 14 of his 20 points in the third quarter to help lead Santa Ana Valley (6-6) past Savanna (3-9) in the consolation round.

In the Canyon tournament:

Bolsa Grande 67, Hueneme 52--James Britton scored 19, Robert Fierro 18 and Jason Dienhart 15 for Bolsa Grande (5-3) in the consolation quarterfinals. Fierro and Britton also had nine rebounds each for Bolsa Grande.

In the Mountain View St. Francis tournament:

University 77, Hayward Mt. Eden 70--Demitrius Zeigler made seven three-pointers and scored 28 points to lead University (3-5) over Mt. Eden. Josh Elliott added 20 points and made six three-pointers for University.

Prep Polls

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. poll

Pos. School (League): Record

1. Mater Dei (South Coast): 10-0

2. Huntington Beach (Sunset): 7-2

3. Santa Margarita (Sea View): 7-1

4. Capistrano Valley (South Coast): 7-4

5. Los Alamitos (Empire): 10-2

6. Trabuco Hills (Pacific Coast): 9-2

7. Irvine (Sea View): 7-2

8. Kennedy (Garden Grove): 5-3

9. Sonora (Freeway): 8-2

10. Esperanza (Empire): 7-2

Others receiving votes: Katella (9-2): and Tustin (7-2).