Burlison on Basketball

Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

Trinity League teams will be tuff nuts to crack for CIF SS playoff foes

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RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA – The Trinity League used games in three different Orange County gymnasiums Thursday night to demonstrate just how formidable its representation in the CIF Southern Section boys’ basketball playoffs is going to be over the next three weeks.

*At Santa Margarita, St. John Bosco was in control from jump while knocking off the host Eagles, 56-48, to wrap up its regular season at 9-1 in league and 24-4 overall.

The Braves are No. 6 in this week’s BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 25 and will be snuggly among the eight teams in the Open Division bracket when its officially unveiled by the CIF SS administration Sunday at noon.

The Eagles fell to 5-5 – and into a three-way tie for third in league – and 21-8 overall.

But those eight losses need this caveat: a combined six of them came to the No.’s 6 (SJB, twice), 7 (St. Bernard), 11 (Mater Dei), 14 (JSerra) and 16 (Orange Lutheran) in the Top 25.

They almost certainly will land in the D-1 bracket as an at-large selection.

*At Mater Dei, the host Monarchs secured second place, out right – sounds funny, right? – with their 75-53 decision against Servite. Their fourth win in a row (and eighth in nine games) brought their league mark to 6-4 and overall record to 22-6.

 Coach Gary McKnight’s team is likely to miss the CIF Open playoffs for the first time in their 10 years but is in line for a No. 1 or 2 overall seed in the D-1 bracket Sunday.

*And, in San Juan Capistrano (about four miles south from Casa de Burlison), host JSerra rallied from 15 points down in the first quarter to pull away for an 83-75 win over the Orange Lutheran Lancers.

The win brought the Lions to 20-8 overall, with their 5-5 Trinity mark.

Orange Lutheran fell to 16-10 and 5-5.

As the top-two finishers in the league, the Trinity athletic administrator is expected to submit St. John Bosco and Mater Dei as its 1 and 2 seeds to CIF SS office.

The pecking order of Orange Lutheran (which is part of the 2AA pool of candidates), JSerra and Santa Margarita is expected to be determined by league administrators Friday morning.

Back at Santa Margarita . . .

The Braves – who knocked of the Eagles in Bellflower, 55-30, on Jan. 18, got nine first-quarter points from Jack Turner (who played as a freshman two years ago for the Eagles) and were in reasonable control throughout Thursday night.

The 6-foot-4 Turner scored a team-high 17 points with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Coach Matt Dunn’s squad continued to get significant contribution from 6-3 freshman Brandon McCoy, who played in his 10th game Thursday night since enrolling and becoming eligible for the second semester.

The uber-athletic and active McCoy (pictured) came off the bench for four points (all in the fourth quarter, including a two-hand throw down), five rebounds, two steals and an assist.

Sophomore guard Elzie Harrington didn’t jump shoot well for the Braves (he missed six of nine shots from the field) while scoring seven points but added five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Senior center Rockwell Reynolds again used his (potentially; depending upon how the playoffs shake out) final game in the SM gymnasium to showcase his dazzling footwork and low-post skill in route to 28 points  — half of those in the fourth quarter – and eight rebounds for the Eagles.

Freshman Brayden Kyman (a teammate of McCoy’s last spring and summer with Team Why Not on the EYBL 15s circuit) came off the bench to hit two threes and grab five rebounds for the Eagles, who lost five of their final six Trinity games.

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