Surging Kennedy Upsets Santa Margarita

On the first day of the 32nd annual Orange Holiday Classic, Santa Margarita again was reminded this is a new season, and Kennedy continued its early surge.

The Eagles, defending Division II-AA champions and seeded No. 2 in the tournament, have yet to hit their stride this basketball season, and the Fighting Irish kept them tottering with a surprising 54-52 first-round victory at Orange High.

Dinsmore Sohn’s 15-footer with two seconds to play gave Kennedy the victory. The Irish (9-3), who held the ball for 50 of the game’s final 52 seconds before Sohn’s final shot, face Huntington Beach today. The Eagles (5-4) will play Pacifica.

Sohn paced Kennedy with 12 points.

“This was a good win for us,” said first-year Coach Pat O’Hern, whose team already has won two more games than it did all last season. “This game and tournament is a measuring stick for where we are.

“Today was a step up. Taking nothing away from our game with Irvine, Santa Margarita was the best team we’ve faced. They have a good, solid program; that’s where we’re trying to get to.”

Meanwhile, the Eagles, led by Ryan Forehan-Kelly’s 17 points and Brad Gloger’s 15 points and nine rebounds, were left wondering how they let the game get away.

Although the game was closely contested, Santa Margarita held a 22-15 edge on the boards and shot a respectable 45.2% from the field (14 of 31). The Eagles fought back from a 38-30 deficit early in the third quarter. They took a 47-44 lead early in the fourth, and seemed poised to control the game.

“I thought we would too,” Santa Margarita Coach Jerry DeBusk said.

But no one on Santa Margarita’s young roster--only two of the 14 players are seniors--could provide the emotional or scoring burst to deflate the Irish. Kennedy, which shot 54% (19 of 35), hung around the game until they could find a way to win it.

“They outplayed us today,” DeBusk said. “We have no excuses. They were the better team.

“This is a young team, and I knew we would have some growing pains. Sometimes we play pretty well, and other times we don’t play smart. That is the sign of inexperience.”

In other games:

Capistrano Valley 68, San Jose Archbishop Mitty 53--Dan Galvanoni and Austin Moherman combined for 18 points in the first quarter in which Capistrano Valley outscored Archbishop Mitty, 26-15. Galvanoni scored eight of his game-high 20 points in the quarter.

Foothill 47, Aliso Niguel 45--Foothill outscored Aliso Niguel, 13-8, in the fourth quarter in the come-from-behind victory. Jeff Munsell, who had 10 of Aliso Niguel’s 11 points in the first quarter, had a game-high 23 points.

Huntington Beach 67, Pacifica 50--Chris Basich scored 21 points and John Davidson had 16 points and 22 rebounds for Huntington Beach, which led by 20 at the half.

Ocean View 64, Kent-Meridian (Wash.) 45--David Hatch scored 13 points, Kevin Hanson had 12 and Jason Martini 10 for Ocean View, which outscored Kent-Meridian, 35-23, in the second half.

Orange 75, Ontario Chaffey 63--Brian Krauss scored nine of his game-high 22 points in the third quarter as Orange took an 11-point lead into the fourth. Krauss made four three-pointers in the game, Juan Dotson scored 17 points and Malcolm Moon had 13 for the Panthers (9-1).

Valencia 50, Fountain Valley 43--Valencia’s John Frechette made eight of nine free throws and scored 10 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter to help defeat Fountain Valley, which led by one after three quarters.