San Clemente Covers All Angles to Advance

San Clemente turned Marina inside out in the first round of the Division I-A boys’ basketball playoffs Friday at Marina.

Junior forward Brian George muscled his way for 23 points and senior guard Ben Straley made six three-pointers to lead the Tritons to a 72-60 victory.

San Clemente (18-8), the third-place team from the South Coast League, hosts San Bernardino Pacific on Tuesday.

Straley converted two three-pointers and scored eight of his 20 points in the second quarter, when San Clemente outscored the Vikings, 22-11, to take a 12-point halftime lead. Straley, who was six for nine from three-point range, felt confident before the game, despite missing 14 consecutive three-point attempts coming in.

“The last two games I didn’t make any, I was awful,” Straley said. “But this game I had to suck it up because this is the playoffs.”

Straley became familiar to his South Coast League opponents after making as many as eight three-pointers in a game earlier in the season. Marina, the second place team from the Sunset League, discovered Straley’s potent set shot the hard way.

“When you play in our league, and teams have seen him score 21 points off threes, and he’s only 5-10, they really close down on him and then he takes tougher shots,” San Clemente Coach Brad Davis said. “When we play that well inside, and demand that much attention and he gets open looks, then he can drill it.”

Marina’s poor shooting and ball handling were also factors in the first half. The Vikings (17-10) made just 11 of 30 shots in the opening half and committed 13 turnovers, compared to five for San Clemente.

Senior forward Mitch Pierce scored eight of his 11 points in the third quarter as the Tritons extended their lead to 15. Marina closed the gap to 10 early in the fourth quarter, but George scored nine points down the stretch to hold Marina back.

Scot Austin scored 16 points and Jeff Hung had nine, all on three-pointers, for Marina.