SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO >> The San Juan Hills boys basketball team continued its historic playoff run Friday with a 70-46 win over Thousand Oaks in the CIF-SS Division 2A quarterfinals at San Juan Hills High.

The Stallions have reached the semifinals for the first time in school history. San Juan Hills, the No. 1 seed in Division 2A, will host St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs in the semifinals Tuesday.

“Honestly it makes it feel like all the hard work is worth it and that we’re getting to where we have been planning for,” San Juan Hills coach Jason Efstathiou said. “I’m just very fortunate we have some good players. I’m very fortunate I have a great coaching staff and we’re putting it all together.”

“We’ve all known each other for so long and we’re just trying to leave a legacy,” San Juan Hills guard Mark Reichner said. “We’ve been working super hard together and it’s paying off.”

San Juan Hills (25-4) did everything right Friday. The Stallions shot 45 percent from 3-point range, forced 16 turnovers on defense, outrebounded Thousand Oaks 30-21 and never led by less than eight points after the first five minutes of the game.

“Overall, for the majority of the game, we played pretty disciplined and pretty solid,” Efstathiou said. “They’ve been consistent. We’ve been doing this now for a few weeks.”

The Stallions held a 17-5 lead after a first quarter where their defense forced six turnovers. They carried a 30-19 lead into halftime due to shooting 50 percent from 3-point range in the first half and by forcing eight turnovers compared to just three for the Stallions.

Reichner took over in the third quarter and helped the Stallions build a seemingly insurmountable lead. The senior scored 14 of his 21 points in the quarter to give San Juan Hills a 21 point lead entering the fourth.

Mark Reichner (21pts) and John McFadden (12 pts, 13 reb) after San Juan Hills beat Thousand Oaks 70-46 to advance to the first semifinal appearance in school history. @ocvarsity @sjhhsbasketball @sjhhsathletics @reichner_e @John_McFadden10 @SteveFryer pic.twitter.com/m2A0HuAzKQ

— Michael Huntley (@mikehuntley63) February 19, 2022

“We needed more points. I wasn’t comfortable with the lead,” Reichner said. “It’s always good to build the lead so they know there is no chance anymore.”

“Mark always comes up big for us and he always seems to have a quarter like that,” Efstathiou said. “He’s a good basketball player but he’s an even better leader. It’s awesome to see him embrace his role.”

John McFadden was crucial for the Stallions on both ends of the court. The 6-foot-7 senior had 12 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.

Jacob Simon had eight points with two 3-pointers in the first quarter for San Juan Hills. Marcus Parks had four steals and four assists and Thomas Hattan had eight points off the bench.

The San Juan Hills student section played a big factor in the game. The group was loud throughout the game, cheering on the Stallions and drawing the attention of the Thousand Oaks players. The San Juan Hills players consider their student section to be a big home court advantage during this run.

“I think it’s the biggest crowd we’ve gotten, maybe in school history,” McFadden said. “It’s fun to play in front of them.”

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“It’s huge. Getting the crowd out there, they help us, we embrace it,” Efstathiou said. “Also, it’s tough for another team to come here and play in that environment. Tuesday is going to be a really tough game.”

Thousand Oaks (19-7) was the second-place team in the Miramonte League this season and beat Glendora and San Marcos in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Trevor Meikle had 21 points for the Lancers and Patrick Saari had 13 points with five assists.