RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Ca. – Three days after a double-overtime loss at St. John Bosco High to open Trinity League action, the Santa Margarita Eagles bounced back in a big way Friday night at home against Orange Lutheran.
And providing much of that bounce in the 71-65 victory was the senior combination of Pacific 12 Conference-bound Jake Kyman and Max Agbonkpolo.
Agbonkpolo (who signed with USC in November) scored 17 of his eventual 28 points in a first half that ended with the Eagles down just a point at intermission after trailing by as many 12 early in the second quarter.
And future UCLA Bruin Kyman (PICTURED) came through with 22 of his game-high 31 points in the second half as the Eagles built a five-point edge going into the final eight minutes, where their lead was in double figures much of the way.
Seven-foot senior Makur Maker spent much more time at the 3-point line than he did in the low post and the Eagles probably weren’t averse to that approach.
Maker scored 23 points to go with eight rebounds but blocked only one shot.
Fifteen of those points came on shots behind the arc, with 10 of the points coming in the fourth quarter.
The victory set the stage for the Eagles’ home game against Mater Dei (which rolled past Servite Friday night to go 2-0 in the Trinity League and 20-1 overall.
With St. John Bosco losing in overtime at JSerra Friday night, it means that – with each of the league’s six teams playing each other just once this season – the Monarchs hold a full-game lead on Santa Margarita, JSerra, SJB and Orange Lutheran, with Servite 0-2.
So, Mater Dei’s games at Santa Margarita and St. John Bosco (Friday) will not only decide the “league champion” but also weigh heavily in the selections and seeding of the Southern Section’s eight-team Open Division playoff field.
But the Eagles (14-6 overall) can’t devote the next five days thinking only about that Mater Dei showdown: They travel to Temecula Saturday for a 6 o’clock game against the state’s No. 2-ranked team from Rancho Christian, which played a nationally televised game in Memphis Friday night.
Leave a Reply