Santa Margarita Easily Advances to the Next Round

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — Nearly everything was perfect for Santa Margarita, which smashed San Diego Scripps Ranch, 65-40, in the Division II Southern California Regional boys’ basketball playoffs Tuesday.

The Eagles (24-6) dominated the boards, 55-23, with 22 rebounds coming on the offensive end.

They had 12 steals and forced the visitors (10-22), who average 71 points, into 17 turnovers and a 14-of-51 shooting night (27.4%) including six of 29 in the second half.

They clinched it in the third quarter by holding Scripps Ranch without a field goal for 7 minutes 22 seconds, and to just six points in the quarter, and took the score from 30-21 at halftime to 46-27.

And they did it without particularly big nights from Dennis Keane and Allen Krist, each of whom scored 18.

But that kind of game borders on fantasy. Reality shows up Thursday, when the fourth-seeded Eagles face top-seeded Compton Dominguez, a team many say is the best in the state. It blew out Bakersfield Highland, 111-61.

“We just wanted the opportunity to continue our season,” Santa Margarita Coach Jerry DeBusk said. “Dominguez is so good; the reality is we have to play them. We’ll go take our shot.”

DeBusk’s mood was shared by Keane, who has enjoyed a fabulous postseason.

“Hey it’s a no-lose situation for us,” DeBusk said. “We’re up against the big dogs; if we lose we’re supposed to; if we win, everybody will be saying ‘Oh my.’ ”

If the Eagles were playing Dominguez in their gym they would probably ooze confidence. Tuesday’s win was their 35th in a row here, dating back to 1993.

“I can still remember that loss,” DeBusk said. “Newport Harbor beat us on a last second shot.”

Dominguez probably will not implode the way the Falcons did.

What also hurt Scripps Ranch was not taking better advantage of Santa Margarita’s slow start. The Eagles missed seven of their first eight shots, but the Falcons could only break out to an 8-3 lead.

“We knew we were fortunate to withstand that early run,” Keane said.

It was the Eagles’ third-quarter outburst that discouraged Scripps Ranch. Keane scored the quarter’s first eight points. Santa Margarita’s 16-2 run had the Eagles coasting, 46-23, before Derek Tucker, who led the Falcons with 11 points, dropped in a three-footer for Scripp Ranch’s first basket--with 28 seconds remaining.

After that the Falcons disintegrated into a batch of one-on-one attempts and botched fastbreaks.