Inspired Santa Margarita Shows No Mercy on Servite
Few would talk about it but Santa Margarita’s 76-36 victory over Servite looked a lot like “payback” Saturday at the fourth Nike Extravaganza.
The Friars, one of two teams to defeat the Eagles last season, were outplayed and then some at Cal State Fullerton. Servite won, 46-43, last season. This time Santa Margarita led, 43-13 at the half.
Santa Margarita guard Spencer Gloger, who scored 12 points in 21 minutes, called the rematch, simply, “an exhibition game.”
Guard Ryan Dwight, a reserve on last year’s state and Southern Section titlist, pointed out that Servite joins Santa Margarita in an all-parochial league in the fall, so no need to get the Friars too fried.
However, “This will send a message to our younger guys how to do it,” said Dwight, who led all scorers with 15 points.
Servite, under swarming defensive pressure, made only two field goals in the first 11 minutes.
Santa Margarita shot 53.3% from the field, turned the ball over only eight times and made seven of 11 three-pointers. The Eagles led by as many as 42 points.
“The fact that we lost last year got us up for this year,” said Santa Margarita starter Kelley Kramer. “It was the revenge factor. We talked about what happened last year in the locker room before this game.
“This was one thing we accomplished that last year’s team couldn’t: beating Servite. I guess we’re one up on last year’s team. That was an awesome team, CIF and state titles, but we came in and showed what we could do.”
Servite Coach Scott Hamilton and Santa Margarita counterpart Jerry DeBusk said they have been too busy preparing their teams for league play to think much about this one.
Hamilton said he feared the worst, though, because the Friars (12-12) haven’t lived up to expectations this season. “Our team isn’t strong enough to play back-to-back games when you have to play Santa Margarita,” said Hamilton, whose Friars fell into a third-place tie by losing to Tustin, 58-47, Friday night. “It was a tough game last night. We played hard and were tired.”
DeBusk said the Eagles (22-2), who clinched no worse than a tie for the Sea View League title Friday night with a 49-42 victory over El Toro, didn’t discuss the rematch until the team met Saturday morning. He said that when Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight invited the Eagles to return to the Extravaganza this season, DeBusk had the option of whom to play.
“I looked at who was coming in--Long Beach Poly, [Compton] Dominguez,” DeBusk said. “I said I’d take Servite again.”
In other games:
Upland 50, Tustin 43--The matchup presented a good opportunity to see what Tustin’s 6-9, 235-pound freshman center DeAngelo Collins could do against Upland’s 6-11, 270-pound Steven Hamilton, 6-6, 260-pound DeMarcus Williams and 6-6, 220-pound Desmond Penigar. Collins had 12 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Tillers (17-8).
Long Beach Poly 71, Villa Park 69 (3 OT)--Andy Olsen’s half-court three-pointer to end the game didn’t get the Spartans even, but it typified the way Villa Park, ranked ninth in Division I-A, kept coming after the Jackrabbits, ranked second in Division I-AA. Villa Park (17-9) rallied from a 47-39 deficit in the final 2:40 of regulation to send the game into overtime. Poly (18-6) rallied from a four-point deficit in the first overtime, then Villa Park’s Justin Haney sent the game into triple overtime with a fingertip roll-in with eight seconds to go.
Ocean View 64, Los Angeles Crenshaw 55--Ocean View (20-4) led by as many as 20 points in the first half and was up by 16 at halftime. Crenshaw (21-5) cut into the lead using a press and trailed, 48-45, after a three-pointer by Tommy Johnson with 5:25 left.
But the Seahawks scored the next nine points. Tony Dow scored 15 points and Rahsaw McAfee had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Seahawks.