Santa Margarita point guard Devonte Klines is the driver. Forward Joe Furstinger is the engine. Both are involved in nearly every offensive turn.
“It starts with those two,” Eagles coach Jeff Reinert said.
Things don’t always end there for Santa Margarita. Forward Sjur Berg is resourceful down low, allowing Furstinger to occasionally roam the perimeter. Forward Brett Oosdyke spreads the floor with his outside shooting, creating bigger lanes for Klines.
All four of them average between 9 and 14 points per game this season. Moreover, they are committed to defense and rebounding.
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TODAY’S GAME
DIVISION 3 REGIONAL FINAL
Santa Margarita vs. Chaminade
At Colony High, Ontario, 8 p.m.
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“It helps that they’re seniors,” Reinert said. “We’re more mature.”
Maturity has translated into winning.
Santa Margarita, two weeks after winning a section title, will face top-seeded Chaminade of West Hills on Saturday in the CIF Southern California Regionals Division 3 final at Colony High in Ontario. The third-seeded Eagles (26-8) are one win away from playing for the program’s third state title and the first since 2008.
And they are doing it without a superstar.
“It’s been different guys” leading us, Reinert said. “It’s been a lot of fun seeing them click.”
It was only a few months ago that the 6-foot-8 Furstinger, coming off an All-CIF season, said he privately entertained thoughts of averaging 20 points per game while the 6-foot Klines still viewed himself as a shooting guard. Klines has recently flirted with more assists than points on many nights. Furstinger has scored just 28 points total in the Eagles’ past three games.
Both averaged more points per game as juniors.
“We’re unselfish and we move the ball great,” Furstinger said. “We don’t care who scores.”
Reinert, a lifetime college basketball coach, found his way to Santa Margarita thanks to an indirect assist from former Laker Mychal Thompson. He was an Oregon State assistant eight years ago when Thompson, who broke into the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers, asked Reinert to take a look at his son, Mychel, then a senior at Santa Margarita.
Reinert also saw Thompson’s other son, Klay, who was a year removed from playing on the freshman team and had yet to flash his NBA potential. Neither Thompson ended up in Corvallis, but Rancho Santa Margarita left an indelible impression on Reinert.
“I told myself, if this job ever came open this would be a great place to be,” Reinert said. “Never did I think I would be in position to take the job.”
That changed in 2012 when longtime Eagles coach Jerry DeBusk retired while Reinert happened to be out of coaching. His transition to coaching high school players for the first time wasn’t entirely seamless. Santa Margarita went 0-10 last year in Trinity League play, only to salvage its season with a run to the CIF-SS Division 3AA final.
“It was difficult,” Reinert said. “We were getting beat up in the Trinity League. The kids were much more resilient than I was.”
The kids had been there before. In DeBusk’s final season, Santa Margarita went 2-8 in league yet reached the Division 3A semifinals. Furstinger said the Eagles actually gained confidence from a series of close losses in league a year ago.
A seven-point loss to Mater Dei this past January had a similar effect.
“Why can’t we play like that every night?” Furstinger wondered aloud.
Then they started to. The Eagles defeated eventual Central Section Division I finalist Bullard of Fresno, Orange Lutheran for a second time and JSerra by 30 points.
By then, 6-4 guard Ray Shou had been inserted into the starting lineup to defend the opposing team’s best guard. This freed up Klines to focus more on running the offense. Santa Margarita has won eight in a row and 12 of its past 13 games.
“We work together,” Klines said. “We’re interchangeable.”
They’ve also changed. The Eagles began the season with two stars. They might end it with two titles.
Contact the writer: amaya@ocregister.com
