SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION II-A BOYS’ BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS : Santa Margarita Keeps Drive Alive

Dare to dream.

Those were the first words from Santa Margarita Coach Jerry Debusk to his team in the locker room after watching it overcome a horrendous start to defeat Pasadena Muir, 60-51, in a Southern Section Division II-A boys’ basketball quarterfinal Friday at El Toro High.

Few expected the defending III-AA champions to make it this far in the section’s most-competitive bracket. But a key second-half defensive switch and experience down the stretch kept the Eagles on their mission to repeat.

Santa Margarita (26-2) is within one game of a return trip to The Pond of Anaheim. Yet that last hurdle is a major one--top-seeded Tustin. The game will be played Tuesday at a site to be determined.

“Now the fun starts. We play the No. 1 seeds,” DeBusk said. “For us to be here is great. Once you get to this point, you never know.”

Playing in the semifinals was the furthest thing from DeBusk’s mind after Friday’s first quarter against the Mustangs (18-11). The Eagles turned the ball over nine times and trailed, 14-2. Muir led, 20-9, after one quarter.

“I was thinking at that time of all the nice things I’d say about our season,” DeBusk mused.

The biggest problem early on was finding a way to stop 6-foot-3 Duane Curtis, who riddled the Eagles’ zone defense for 14 points in the opening quarter.

Santa Margarita did climb back into the game in the second quarter as Muir made only one of its first six shots. Santa Margarita came within one of the Mustangs four times before two free throws by Nick Maroutsos gave the Eagles the lead for good, 40-39, with 1:02 left in the third quarter.

The Eagles outscored Muir, 34-21, in the second half, making seven of 10 field goals in the fourth quarter. Many of them came inside from Allen Krist, who scored 16 of his 26 points in the second half and grabbed 12 rebounds in the game. Matt Nickels, who started the second half in place of Maroutsos, also had six big points in the fourth, and Keane finished with 14.

After a fast start, Muir shot only 34% in the second half and was four of 20 from three-point range. The Mustangs never got closer than five points in the final quarter.

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In another game:

No. 3 Inglewood 50, Katella 42--Paul Pierce scored 19 points for the Sentinels (26-3) in a quarterfinal victory at Cypress College. Katella, co-champion of the Empire League, finishes 23-4.