Top-ranked Santa Fe Christian shoots way past 10th-ranked Saints

SOLANA BEACH — In just its second home basketball game of the season, Santa Fe Christian proved why it’s ranked No. 1 in the county.

The Eagles had trouble shooting early, then rallied in the final three quarters and beat No. 10 St. Augustine 62-52 in a nonleague game.

“You’re a pretty good coach when Dax Hall is on your team,” said Johnny Dee, the all-time leading scorer at USD who is in his first season as head coach at SFC (16-1).

Hall, who entered the game averaging 27.9 points a game, finished with 38 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot.

But it was Chase Othick who lit the fuse for the Eagles.

St. Augustine (8-8) led by 10 with 5:06 to play in the first half.

Then SFC got hot, going on a 20-4 run with Othick hitting a pair of 3-pointers to fuel the Eagles.

“Our shots weren’t falling, but there was no panic,” said Othick, a junior. “St. Augustine is a good team, has a great program, but we’ve played good teams all season. We just needed to do what we’ve done all season … make shots.”

SFC was 1 of 8 from behind the arc until Othick connected.

St. Augustine turned the ball over seven times in the second quarter and 16 times in the game. SFC had nine turnovers.

“Johnny instills so much confidence in us,” said Hall, whose brother Jake is the leading scorer at the University of New Mexico as a freshman. “I believe Chase is the best shooter in the county. Shooters shoot. If you keep shooting, something will fall.”

Asked if he’s happy with where the Eagles are now, Hall said: “Honestly I think we should be undefeated. We lost a game by two (54-52 to Morneau Catholic), a bad loss. I’m happy with where we are, but most definitely not satisfied.

“This is just the beginning of a journey. We need to keep it up through February and March.”

Othick finished with nine points for SFC. Scott Vermillion added five points and five rebounds.

Pai Pplamalu led St. Augustine with 16 points, Anthony Etheridge added 13 and Lincoln Grogan 12.

Notable

Big games draw the big names. In attendance Tuesday were former high school coaches Ray Johnson (El Camino), the winningest coach in San Diego Section history, John Farrell (Torrey Pines), Chad Bickley (Santa Fe Christian), Randy Wright (Mt. Carmel) and current Francis Parker coach Mason Biddle (Francis Parker). That’s nearly 2,000 wins sitting in the stands.