St. Margaret’s Wins, but It Comes at a Price

Coach Mark Dawson had high hopes for his St. Margaret’s team this season, thinking the Tartans could be good enough to win a league title.

But with four starters already lost to injury and disciplinary actions, Dawson said he has to scale back expectations.

St. Margaret’s defeated Murrieta Calvary Chapel, 61-42, Friday in Whittier to win the first Patriot boys’ basketballtournament. However, Dawson didn’t sound as though he expected many more highlights this season.

“At the moment I want us to think about reaching the playoffs,” Dawson said. “I think we can still do that. The chances of winning league look bleak at the moment.”

Even Friday’s victory came at a price for the Tartans (4-4). Their best player, guard Alex Huff, sprained his left ankle in the second quarter and did not return.

Huff--the tournament’s most valuable player, who had scored 36 and 37 points respectively in St. Margaret’s tournament victories over Fontana Ambassador Christian and Lawndale Masada--appeared to be on his way to another big night.

He scored eight points as the Tartans’ took a 17-5 first-quarter lead. He had 13 points when he injured the ankle with 3:30 to play in first half.

Fortunately the Tartans did not need him Friday. A pressing 2-3 matchup zone repeatedly harassed Calvary Chapel into flurries of turnovers and bad shots. St. Margaret’s was comfortably ahead, 32-14, at the half, and 49-21 after three quarters.

Brain Sternberg assumed the scoring load for St. Margaret’s, scoring 12 of his game-high 18 points in the second half.

Calvary Chapel went on a 16-4 run midway through the fourth quarter, but it brought them only with 17 points, 54-37, at the 3:11 mark. St. Margaret’s had little difficulty running out the clock.

“I was happy to see some guys step up when Alex went down,” Dawson said. “And if we have to lose him, this is the right time; we’re off until after the Christmas break.

“I’m just glad we didn’t need to do an emergency tape job tonight and try to play him.”

Dawson said Huff would undergo an examination of the ankle, but “it didn’t appear to be more than a sprain.”

In the third-place game:

Fontana Ambassador Christian 53, Heritage Christian 48--Todd Warner led all scorers with 29, including six-three pointers. But after taking a 24-22 lead into the locker room, Heritage Christian was outscored 20-9 in the third quarter, and never got closer than three points after that.