SAN CLEMENTE – Heading into its league matchup against El Toro with a shot at early control of the South Coast League, Tritons coach Marc Popovich was concerned about how his team would perform against the Chargers’ unorthodox zone defense.
The offense figured out how to get around that defense early and looked smooth all night, leading to a 59-40 victory for the host Tritons.
San Clemente used offensive rebounding and second chance opportunities to build an early 13-5 lead.
“Once we found out how to get around their zone, we were able to break it down and find easy buckets,” said Joe Mann, who finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Sam Darnold led the way, scoring nine of his game-high 20 points as part of a 13-1 run to close out the third quarter and give San Clemente a 49-29 lead.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Mann and Dillon Waikle stretched the lead to 57-31 and the Tritons cruised to a 2-0 start in the South Coast League.
“Their length bothered us, they have guys that share the ball well,” Chargers coach Todd Dixon said. “We didn’t shoot particularly well and we weren’t attacking to get to the foul line either. We didn’t get any fluid offense going.”
After falling behind 15-8 after one quarter, Trey Jordan hit two of the Chargers’ first three shots to cut the deficit to 17-14.
However, San Clemente (11-7, 2-0) responded with a pair of 3-pointers by Scott Herrod and another from Waikle to keep its distance. The Tritons led 28-21 at the half.
Defensively, the Tritons pressed around the perimeter and clogged passing lanes, leading to 17 turnovers by the Chargers.
With a 36-28 lead midway through the third quarter, Darnold sank a 3-pointer and then found wide open space down low for an easy lay-in from Crankshaw to ignite big run.
“We shared the ball beautifully, we made great cuts and our shot selection was excellent,” Popovich said. “They had a lot of freedom out there tonight and they played really well.”
Jordan and freshman Noah Aguilar led El Toro with nine points each.
San Clemente continues league play at Mission Viejo, Wednesday. The Chargers (13-7, 1-2) will host Dana Hills.
