Santa Margarita Back Up to Form

Santa Margarita Coach Jerry DeBusk was worried about his team, which in his eyes had not played up to speed in its last two games.

Santa Margarita was a bit lackadaisical in the first half Tuesday against visiting Calvary Chapel, but rebounded for a 79-57 boys’ basketball victory.

Sixth-ranked Santa Margarita (5-2) took an eight-point halftime lead, but put together 13-6 and 13-2 runs in the third to put it away.

“The third quarter was more like us,” DeBusk said. “We pushed the ball, made some shots and had some enthusiasm. We’re better than what we’ve been showing.”

Santa Margarita’s hustle showed early in the second half as Lenny Collins (19 points) hit two three-pointers to help extend Santa Margarita’s lead to 64-41. Teammate Ryan Stacey finished with 13 points.

Calvary Chapel (6-3) led, 29-27, in the second quarter, but seemed to slow after forward Torin Beeler injured his heel in the first quarter. He had 14 points in the first half, but finished with only 17.

Canaan Owens had 10 points for Calvary Chapel.

In another nonleague game:

No. 1 Mater Dei 102, Canyon 62--Jamal Sampson had 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks and Lance Soderberg added 18 points off the bench for the Monarchs (7-0) in the opening game of a doubleheader at Santa Margarita.

With no answer to the sizable Monarch lineup, Canyon (2-4) spent the entire game firing three-pointers. The strategy didn’t work; the Comanches were only 10 of 48 from beyond the arc.

The Monarchs never trailed and had a 50-point fourth-quarter lead.

Derron Putnam had 22 points and Jamal Taylor scored 17 for the Comanches.

Mater Dei’s Steve Scoggin finished with 16 points and Eric Soderberg had 12.