DANA POINT, CA – it didn’t take the Newport Pacifica Christian High boys’ basketball team long Friday night to confirm what its head coach had drilled into its collective consciousness over the past couple of days:
The Dana Hills High team has a lot of quality jump shooters with a lot of range.
The host Dolphins got five 3-pointers from four players in the first five minutes or so to burst out to a six-point advantage.
But the Tritons quickly stabilized their defense to pull out to a 12-point lead at intermission and coast to a 76-56 victory in a CIF Southern Section Division 2A second-round playoff game.
“They’re an excellent jump shooting team,” said Pacifica Christian Coach Jeff Berokoff, after his team had improved to 22-8 to earn a Tuesday night quarterfinal – at home – with Sonora.
“They shot something like 43 percent on 3s, so we stressed getting out to the shooters and contesting everything.”
Dana Hills’ terrific sophomore guard, Collin Haugh (23.9 ppg going into the game), hit one of those five first-quarter 3s, then dropped in another on the first possession of the second quarter.
But the Dolphins didn’t hit another until a minute deep into the fourth quarter when they were 19 points down.
And, while the hosts were playing, basically, a five-guard offense (in size and skill), the Tritons were dominating under both backboards – out-rebounding the hosts in the first half, 23-5.
Six-foot-four forward E.J. Spillman had three of those rebounds in the first half and did a nice job of countering Dana Hills’ first quarter 3s with deep jumper of his own and a couple of “And 1s” – hitting a free throw after being fouled while converting a layup.
Spillman finished with a team-high 19 points with nine rebounds.
And another sophomore, 6-5 Logan Stewart, came off the bench in the first quarter to grab a couple of rebounds.
He was back on the floor early in the second quarter after his brother, starting junior forward Alex Stewart, picked up his second personal foul and left the game
The younger Stewart grabbed six more rebounds, converted a couple of layups, and hit the back end of a two-shot, free-throw opportunity.
Logan Stewart finished with 14 points (five of those on fourth-quarter free throw) and 11 rebounds, while his brother added 11 and seven.
The eight minutes of fourth quarter playing time seemed to stretch a lot closer to 30 minutes of “real time”, with the teams combining for nine turnovers (the Tritons finished with 19 and the Dolphins 15) and shooting a collective 40 free throws.
Haugh, after missing eight of 10 shots from the field and his only free throw over the first three quarters, found the frantic-, open-court action in the final quarter to his liking.
His two free throws 20 seconds into the quarter got his team to within 14 points but they couldn’t get any closer – largely because the Tritons hit 20 of 26 free throws in the quarter.
He scored 13 points in the quarter (including a couple of 3s) with three rebounds and three assists as his team closed its season 19-9.
The most concerting issue for Berokoff in the quarter wasn’t his team’s turnovers and numerous fouls (the Dolphins hit 10 of their 14 free throws in the quarter after attempting just seven, and hitting five, over the first 24 minutes of playing time):
It was that his best player, University of Northwestern-bound Parker Strauss, was on the bench of all but the first 20 seconds of the quarter.
The injury h suffered to his left Achilles tendon Wednesday night in the win over Portola was re-aggravated, causing him to fall to the floor and, ultimately, be helped up by the team’s trainer.
According to Strauss, there is no structural damage (tear) in the tendon.
But, according to the way he grimaced while being helped up by the trainer and when he stood up from his seat after the final buzzer sound, there was ample discomfort.
Before leaving the game, he hit just one of his five shots from the field and three of four three throws. But he added seven rebounds and (also, according to my stats) seven assists.
Not only is he among the handful of most skilled point guards in Southern California, he’s also one of the best on-floor leaders the region.
“Fortunately, we’ve got a few more days (before the Tuesday night game with Sonora), so we will see how he feels then,” Berokoff said of Strauss (pictured), a leading candidate for Orange County Player of the Year.
Even with a (reasonably) healthy Strauss on their home court, the Tritons have a daunting task while facing Sonora Tuesday night:
The 26-4 and Free League champion Raiders’ playoff victories over Ayala (72-46) and Agoura (74-59) were their 19th and 20th in a row.
They haven’t lost since falling to Anaheim Canyon (which takes on JSerra in a Division 1 quarterfinal Tuesday night), 66-62, on Dec. 9.
Berokoff is familiar with Sonora High and its head coach.
And that’ putting it mildly.
Berokoff is a 1998 Sonora graduate, setting a single season scoring record (24.0) as a senior that still stands.
His coach at Sonora?
Mike Murphy — the guy who is still cranking out quality teams and players at Sonora.
“There isn’t a better high school coach anywhere,” Berokoff said.
“He taught me so much and is one of my mentors.
“I’d almost rather coach against anyone else but him.”
Tuesday night, though, that won’t be an option.
And, with a win separating the teams from a semifinal next Friday night, why not, right?
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