RANCHO CUCAMONGA – It didn’t take long for Santa Margarita and its triple-threat attack to assert its dominance Tuesday in a 74-59 victory over Rancho Cucamonga in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 1AA playoffs.
Santa Margarita (19-7), which never trailed, got 18 points from Jordan Guest, 17 and eight assists by Noah Rasheed and Kaden Rasheed added 16 points.
Rancho Cucamongs (20-9) got as close as 32-28 in the third quarter, but seven consecutive points from Kaden Rasheed gave the Eagles a comfortable margin the rest of the way.
The Eagles, buoyed by excellent ball movement and a 16-of-17 effort from the free-throw line, will host Los Alamitos (26-2) on Friday in the quarterfinals.
“We moved the ball well and ran our offense effectively tonight,” Santa Margarita coach Jeff Reinert said. “We have a pretty balanced offense and got contributions from everyone.”
Julien Ducree had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Rancho Cucamonga and Blake Fisher had 12 points.
Noah Rasheed, the Eagles’ junior point guard, controlled the game throughout with his eight assists and made all 10 of his free-throw attempts.
“I know it’s my job to get other guys (the ball) and if I get it back, I try to make the best decision for my team,” Noah Rasheed said. “After I hit my first four (free throws) in a row, I just kept wanting it back because I knew they were going in. Once you get a rhythm on the line, you want to keep shooting them.”
Santa Margarita’s Scott Wisierski was solid with 13 points and five rebounds, and Colin Ferrier added six points and grabbed five rebounds.
With a comfortable lead, the third quarter had one moment that got both crowds on their feet.
Ducree emphatically dunked the ball strongly over an Eagles defender, but on the next trip down, Guest got the ball, used some nifty foot work and threw it down over Ducree.
Rancho Cucamonga finished 11 of 19 from the line.
