Four Observations: Santa Fe Christian vs. San Marcos
SOLANA BEACH — The 72-mile trip from Orange County to Santa Fe Christian high school for a CIF San Diego Section Division 1 semifinal between the Eagles and San Marcos ended up being well worth the Tuesday mileage. Santa Fe…
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Continue ReadingSOLANA BEACH — The 72-mile trip from Orange County to Santa Fe Christian high school for a CIF San Diego Section Division 1 semifinal between the Eagles and San Marcos ended up being well worth the Tuesday mileage.
Santa Fe Christian hung on to a 53-50 victory to advance to Saturday’s championship game behind 23 points and nine rebounds from senior wing Sam Dudley. Junior shooting guard Keatten Smith and sophomore forward Vincent Berlucchi added 13 and nine points, respectively.
For San Marcos, sophomore point guard Devon Arlington was the catalyst, scoring a team-high 19 points to go along five assists. Arlington scored 12 of his 19 in a second half that saw the Knights battle back from a nine-point deficit late in the third quarter, setting up an exciting finish.
Santa Fe Christian (22-9) will take on Carlsbad in the Division 1 championship game Saturday at 1 p.m. at RIMAC Arena on the campus of UC San Diego. San Marcos (19-11) qualified for the state playoffs and will get back on the floor next week with hopes of making another run.
Four Observations
Sam Dudley has taken big strides since the summer
The 6-foot-2 wing showed that he can score in a variety of ways and efficiently throughout the course of a game. Dudley knocked down a couple of early 3-point shots which opened up driving lanes and he took advantage of those when attacking bad closeouts and finishing around the basket with crafty layups around potential shot blockers. The unsigned senior played with a high motor throughout and it showed in his rebounding as he grabbed nine boards on the night.
Devon Arlington showed improved confidence in multiple aspects of the game
The 6-foot-2 point guard has always been known as a tough, hard-nosed defender and relentless attacker of the basket in transition, but Arlington had some newly-coined finesse game on display Tuesday night. The sophomore didn’t hesitate when pulling from behind-the-arc as he may have in the past and it paid off for him as he connected on two triples. Arlington also showed improved feel for the point guard position when finding open shooters on drive-and-kicks or dropping off passes to big men when drawing help defenders on penetration.
Vincent Berlucchi provided big minutes off the bench
The Eagles have a ton of young talent on its roster and Berlucchi is their best underclass prospect right now. The 6-foot-6 sophomore has inside-out scoring ability and did most of his damage in the painted area Tuesday where his sure hands and soft touch allowed him to snatch dump off passes and finish off the glass as he finished with nine points. Berlucchi showed his high basketball IQ and intangibles multiple times throughout the game, whether it was stepping over and taking a charge or communication effectively on defense.
Santa Fe Christian should be back in a similar position next year
The Eagles will lose three contributing seniors in Dudley, Alex Yphantides and Saagar Dhanjani, but will get its top player back from injury in junior guard Trevan Martin. Martin is a surefire Division 1 combo guard whose playmaking and athleticism off the wing will be a welcomed addition to an already impressive list of returners. Sharpshooting junior Keatten Smith, smooth and high IQ point guard Hayden Gray and the above-mentioned Berlucchi will all be back in the fold for SFC next season as the Eagles’ roster is talented enough to slip into the Open Division if all goes according to plan.