The San Juan Hills are too strong for St. Paul, advances to first CIF men’s basketball final – Orange County Register

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – Advancement continues for the San Juan Hills men’s basketball program.

The Stallions, playing in their first CIF Southern Section semi-final, defeated St. Paul 63-53 on Tuesday at San Juan Hills High.

They will play in their first CIF-SS men’s basketball final on Friday. San Juan Hills (April 26) will play at La Mirada (19-13) last Friday. La Mirada beat Edison 67-48 in another 2A semifinal on Tuesday.

Paul ends October 22. The Swordsmen won the Camino Real League championship. They advanced to the semi-finals of 2A with three playoff wins by an average of 17 points.

San Juan Hills won their first league title last season and won the Sea View League again this season before heading into the knockout stages.

John McFadden leads the San Juan Hills with a high 21 in the game. McFadden, senior 6-7, also had the highest 10 rebounds on the team.

San Juan Hills senior striker Mason Brehmer scored 13 points and senior keeper Mark Reichner scored 12 points with three 3-pointers. Senior keeper Jacob Simon scored six of his 11 points in the fourth half and blocked two shots, and senior point guard Marcus Parks scored six and ran a superb strike. the effectiveness of the San Juan Hills expertly.

Senior keeper Allen Moser leads the St. Paul with 17 points. Sidy Diallo, senior 7-2, scored 14 points with 9 rebounds and 5 blocks. Senior guard Danny Patton scored 12 points for the Swordsmen.

It was a physical game, and much of the physical contact got San Juan Hills boxing Diallo as much as possible as the St. Paul missed.

San Juan Hills coach Jason Efstathiou has given McFadden most of the responsibility of keeping Diallo afloat, with regular help from Brehmer and Gavin Gloude. Diallo is accompanied by other Swordsmen, who fiercely pursue opportunities for attack recovery.

“They’re athletic, they’re big,” said Efstathiou, in his seventh season as the San Juan Hills coach. “Sometimes they literally throw it out of the glass and then two people, three people rush in. Defensively, we have to do everything we can to box them out, get them out of the way, get them out. out of space.”

San Juan Hills senior John McFadden scored a game-high 21 and was one of St Paul’s 7-2 defenders Sidy Diallo (14 points) in the Stallions win @ocvarsityguy @ mikehuntley63 @ MAlvarez02 pic.twitter.com/Ht6RvkhLTX

– Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) February 23, 2022

Moser came back 3s in the opening minutes to bring St. Paul leads 6-0. San Juan Hills soon caught the Swordsmen to draw 8-8.

The Stallions handled the ball patiently on attack, with a series of cuts in the backdoor creating messy situations, whether St. Paul is in either zone or men’s defence, and they soon lead 20-10.

That offensive form continued for the San Juan Hills throughout the game. Four or more passes is the recipe in every attack. The only time a pass happened was a long court pass for a breakaway.

“It was the foundation of our team,” McFadden said. “We move the ball as best we can to get easy buckets around the rim and knock open shots when we can.”

San Juan Hills lead 31-23 after halftime. Reichner made two 3s in the final 1:39 of the third quarter and Stallions brought in a 46-35 advantage in the fourth round.

Saint Paul shot erratically for most of the game and that continued into the fourth inning, in which the Swordsmen were 3 to 11 from the field.

Simon hit two 3s in the final inning and McFadden scored six as the Stallions remained in control until the final whistle blew and the San Juan Hills student section left the stands to join the celebration.