Dorsey and Hamilton help SJB hold off Utah’s best

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RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Ca. – The obvious question leading into the Fall Showcase hosted by the Santa Margarita High boys’ basketball program on Friday and Saturday was – and should have been – “why is a team all the way from Utah doing here?”

The answer is “because (Highland) Lone Peak Coach Quincy Lewis has a great relationship with the Santa Margarita coach from the days of being Jeff Reinert’s assistant at Utah Valley State College.”

And that’s why Lewis’ Knights, 26-1 in 2012-13 when they were fielded the best “public” school team in the land, ventured into Southern California – Orange County, specifically – for some five games in about a 24-hour stretch of the weekend.

The Knights returned just one starter from that club but he’s a good one – and then some.

Six-foot-four T.J. Haws – one of the very best prospects in the Class of 2014, anywhere – scored 25 points to as Lone Peak prevented Santa Margarita from ever getting too close for Lewis’ comfort while dusting the Eagles, 68-57, despite a quality performance from 6-8 Joe Furstinger.

Game No. 2 of the four-game Friday slate ended with Gardena Serra knocking off Bellflower St. John Bosco, 68-57, behind strong efforts from seniors in 6-6 Tavrion Dawson and 6-4 Ron Freeman.

An imaginary asterisk should be attached to the Cavaliers’ victory, however.

That’s because SJB Coach Derrick Taylor only played four of his starters – senior Daniel Hamilton, juniors Tyler Dorsey and Lorne Currie and freshman Billy Preston – approximately eight to 10 minutes apiece in the first half. They stay seated for the second half.

He didn’t want to burn them out for Game No. 3 and with good reason:

It was because the Braves had a hook-up scheduled with Lone Peak.

And a dandy it as a team that will likely be rated somewhere in the Top Five in Southern California, and Top 10 throughout the state, going into the regular season, held off a Lone Peak squad more than strong enough to win a Utah state title, 80-74.

The Braves broke out to a couple of nine-point leads early behind the dazzling offensive skills of the 6-7 Hamilton and 6-5 Dorsey, who helped Taylor’s program win a Southern Section title last spring in only his second season as the Braves’ coach.

But the Knights have a couple of offensive stalwarts of their own, as Haws and one of the west’s best from the Class of 2016 – 6-1 Frank Jackson – started going tit-for-that with SJB’s Dynamic Duo and actually holding a couple of small leads late into the third quarter.

The Braves, however, also got some mighty fine performances from players not named Dorsey (who finished with 31 points) or Hamilton (16 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists).

Behind the efforts of the 6-7 Preston (who went on to score 13 points and snag 14 rebounds) and 6-3, L.A. Fairfax-transfer Currie (15 points and seven rebounds), they close the quarter on a 10-zip run.

They padded the margin to as many as 13 points well into the fourth quarter but the Knights – with Haws and Jackson knocking in jumpers, scoring on drives or setting up teammates for nice looks – refused to crack despite any fatigue they might have been feeling from their second game of the afternoon/early evening and the flight from the Salt Lake City Airport to its John Wayne counterpart earlier Friday.

Jackson finished with 28 points and Haws added 24 but each missed makeable attempts down the stretch and the Braves held on.

Despite having three full high school seasons to go, Jackson joined Haws as a Brigham Young University “commit” Thursday.

Each could be a standout for the Cougars and Coach Dave Rose although it’s likely to be a while since each is expected to depart for two-year LDS church missions after their high school graduations.

In the final game of the evening the Eagles feel behind by as many as 16 points to Serra early in the third quarter.

But, with Furstinger scoring 27 points and 6-4 senior (by way of Norway) Sjur Berg muscled his way to 20 points, the Eagles – despite a 27-point effort Dawson, like Furstinger, one of the better “uncommitted” seniors in California – took a 74-72 victory. Senior point guard Devonte Klines also had strong stretches for Santa Margarita.

Five games are set for the final day of the two-day affair.

Serra plays Lone Peak at 9 a.m., followed by Encino Crespi and Santa Margarita at 10:15, Santa Ana Mater Dei and Serra at 11:30 (with Lone Peak facing Santa Margarita in a junior varsity tilt at the same time on the other side of the gymnasium) and Lone Peak and Crespi wrapping things up with their 12:45 contest.