NEWPORT BEACH – Pacifica Christian defeated Fairmont Prep 63-45 on Friday in a San Joaquin League boys basketball game by doing things much differently than it did in the first league game between the teams.
When Pacifica Christian lost to Fairmont Prep 59-55 on Jan. 13, Fairmont Prep outscored Pacifica Christian 19-8 in one quarter, and Pacifica Christian shot a miserable 37 percent from the field.
On Friday, Pacifica Christian outscored Fairmont Prep 19-8 in the third quarter and shot 50 percent from the field.
The win moves the Tritons (19-8 overall) into first place in the San Joaquin League with a 6-1 record. Fairmont Prep (19-6) is a half-game behind at 5-1.
Next week is the final week of the regular season.
Pacifica Christian has one league game remaining. The Tritons, ranked No. 4 in the Orange County Top 25, play at last-place Capistrano Valley Christian on Wednesday.
Fairmont Prep, No. 3 in the county Top 25, has two league games remaining. The Huskies play at Orangewood Academy on Monday and have an away game against San Gabriel Academy on Thursday.
Senior forward Salim Semaan scored a team-high 18 points for the Tritons. He made all five of his shot attempts in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer, and made both of his free throws to score 13 points in the quarter.
Senior guard Parker Strauss scored 14 points, including two 3-pointers, and added eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals.
Tritons senior guard Jeff Bohlinger scored 11 points and senior guard Tanner Deal scored nine.
Pacifica Christian senior guard Parker Strauss talks about the Tritons’ 63-45 win over Fairmont Prep. Wild game in a loud gym! … pic.twitter.com/cp3cFAZIIp
— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) January 28, 2023
Senior guard Aaron Long led Fairmont Prep with 19 points. Senior guard Bowen Hammer scored 10 points and 6-foot-11 sophomore Maper Maker scored eight points and had five rebounds and five blocked shots.
Hard body contact was frequent in the contest, and Semaan was motivated by it.
“To see all my boys take charges, to put their bodies on the line,” Semaan said, “that really does something to you. I can’t describe it.”
“This is one of the more important games of our season and we had to make shots to win this game.”
Pacifica Christian had a 25-20 lead at halftime. In the first minute of the second half Strauss came up with a steal and made a lead pass to Deal for a layup to make it 27-20.
Strauss made a high-arced 3-pointer for a 34-25 lead, and another Strauss steal and pass got Logan Stewart a layup to stretch the Tritons’ edge to 38-27.
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It was senior night for Pacifica Christian, playing its final regular-season home game, so five seniors started, including some who generally would not play in a game as important as Friday’s. But it worked out and Tritons coach Jeff Berokoff was able to get more seniors on the court in the final two minutes with victory in hand.
“I love this group,” Berokoff said. “It’s a cliche, but they really love each other and you can see it in how they play. They dive on the floor and do all the things necessary for us to win.”
The CIF Southern Section playoffs begin Feb. 7. Pacifica Christian will be in the Division 2A bracket and Fairmont Prep will play in Division 1. The playoff brackets will be released Feb. 5.