SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – The ascendancy continues for the San Juan Hills boys basketball program.
The Stallions, playing in their first CIF Southern Section semifinal, beat St. Paul 63-53 on Tuesday at San Juan Hills High.
They will play in their first CIF-SS boys basketball final Friday. San Juan Hills (26-4) will play at La Mirada (19-13) in the final Friday. La Mirada defeated Edison 67-48 in Tuesday’s other 2A semifinal.
St. Paul finished 22-10. The Swordsmen won the Camino Real League championship. They advanced to the 2A semifinals with three playoff wins by an average margin of 17 points.
San Juan Hills won its first league championship last season, and won the Sea View League title again this season before going on its playoffs run.
John McFadden led San Juan Hills with a game-high 21 points. McFadden, a 6-7 senior, also had a team-high 10 rebounds.
San Juan Hills senior forward Mason Brehmer scored 13 points and senior guard Mark Reichner scored 12 points with three 3-pointers. Senior guard Jacob Simon scored six of his 11 points in the fourth quarter and blocked two shots, and senior point guard Marcus Parks scored six points and expertly ran San Juan Hills’ ultra-efficient offense.
Senior guard Allen Moser led St. Paul with 17 points. Sidy Diallo, a 7-2 senior, scored 14 points with nine rebounds and five blocks. Senior guard Danny Patton scored 12 points for the Swordsmen.
It was a physical game, and much of the body contact was San Juan Hills boxing out Diallo as much as possible on St. Paul missed shots.
San Juan Hills coach Jason Efstathiou gave McFadden most of responsibility of keeping Diallo at bay, with frequent help from Brehmer and Gavin Gloude. Diallo was accompanied by other Swordsmen who ferociously pursued offensive rebound opportunities.
“They’re very athletic, they’re big,” said Efstathiou, in his seventh season as San Juan Hills’ coach. “Sometimes they literally throw it off the glass and then two guys, three guys dive in. Defensively we’ve got to do everything we can to box them out, get them out of the way, get them out of space.”
San Juan Hills senior John McFadden scored a game-high 21 points and was among the Stallions who guarded St Paul’s 7-2 Sidy Diallo (14 points) in the Stallions win @ocvarsityguy @mikehuntley63 @MAlvarez02 pic.twitter.com/Ht6RvkhLTX
— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) February 23, 2022
Moser made back-to-back 3s in the opening minutes to give St. Paul a 6-0 lead. San Juan Hills caught the Swordsmen soon enough to tie it 8-8.
The Stallions patiently worked the ball around on offense, with an array of backdoor cuts that created layups, whether St. Paul was in a zone or a man-to-man defense, and they soon had a 20-10 lead.
That offensive style continued for San Juan Hills throughout the game. Four or more passes were the formula in every offensive set. The only time one pass happened was a length-of-the-court pass for a breakaway layup.
“That’s the basis of our team,” McFadden said. “We move the ball as best as we can to get easy buckets around the rim and knock down open shots when we can.”
San Juan Hills had a 31-23 lead at halftime. Reichner made two 3s in the third quarter’s final 1:39 and the Stallions carried a 46-35 advantage into the fourth quarter.
St. Paul shot erratically much of the game and that continued in the fourth quarter in which the Swordsmen were 3 for 11 from the field.
Simon made two 3s in the final quarter and McFadden scored six points as the Stallions remained in control until the final buzzer sounded and the San Juan Hills student section left the stands to join in the celebration.