RANCHO SANTA MAGARITA – The St. John Bosco High boys’ basketball players and coaching staff figure to do plenty of in-air snoozing early Wednesday morning.
That’s because the Braves, some nine and a half hours after wrapping up their 51-45 Trinity League victory over host Santa Margarita Tuesday night, were due to depart via an LAX to Chicago American Airlines flight at 6 a.m. Wednesday.
Coach Matt Dunn’s team, after improving to 16-3 overall and 3-1 in league, is bound for Springfield, MO (via a connecting flight from Chicago) to open play Thursday night against Central of Springfield in a first-round game of the eight-team, Bass Pro Tournament of Champions at Missouri State University.
Tuesday night’s Trinity clash was of the “defensive struggle, grind-it-out-on-offense” mode, as the Braves and host Eagles shot .386 and .295 from the field, respectively and unofficially (I kept those stats).
The Eagles (15-5 and 2-1) trailed throughout before pulling up by three points – at 31-28 – late in the third quarter.
But the visitors outscored them, 10-3, to take a four-point edge into the fourth quarter.
Senior Jack Turner (who attended Santa Margarita as a freshman) scored all 16 of his team-high points for the Braves over the first three quarters.
Sophomore Brandon McCoy Jr. (pictured) added 13 points with 10 rebounds and a couple of blocked shots, with three of his trademark two-footed bursts and two-handed slam dunks in the mix as well for the Braves.
St. John Bosco, which was cracked by Mater Dei Saturday (83-62) in their Crypto.com Arena “home game”, played without its leading scorer and rebounder as junior forward Kade Bonam – who suffered a strained left shoulder Saturday vs. the Monarchs – didn’t suit up but is expected to play in Missouri this week.
The Eagles, who are back at it in Trinity action at JSerra Friday night, got nine points from three players and 11 from junior forward Dallas Washington (who picked up his fourth foul with a bit more than two minutes to go in the third quarter).
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