McGee has shouldered the load

Sophomore guard leads the team in scoring and is second in rebounding while running the point.Jamie McGee has been busy on the court for the Sage Hill School boys’ basketball team -- maybe a little too busy.

Sage Hill has been depleted with injuries and illness and only two players -- McGee and center Michael Morgan -- played in all 16 of the team’s nonleague games.

Not only has McGee run the offense as the point guard, he’s been the team’s primary scorer and he’s second on the team in rebounds.

Not bad for a guy who had all of one day off between football and basketball season. McGee helped lead the Lightning football team to the CIF Southern Section Division XIII quarterfinals as the quarterback.

“The transition was quick,” McGee said. “I had one day of rest, then I was thrown right into practice.”

It didn’t take long for McGee to start running the offense in a different sport.

“It took me two to three weeks to get into basketball mode, where I was getting to be where I wanted to be,” he said.

McGee strung together a series of strong games last week in the St. Anthony Tournament. He tallied 19 points, five rebounds and four assists against Renaissance Academy, and had 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a win over Pilgrim. He followed it up with 18 points against Lawndale, and added 18 points and eight rebounds in the tourney finale against Chadwick.

“We haven’t had the lineup we projected. That puts more of a burden on Jamie. He’s had to take on a lot of the scoring responsibility, serve as our point guard, plus he’s getting a lot of rebounds,” Sage Hill Coach Steve Keith said. “We’re spreading him pretty thin. You forget sometimes that he is just a sophomore.”

Sage Hill’s players are finally starting to get healthy as the team heads into Academy League action, which should take some of the responsibility off of McGee. With the sophomore shouldering the load, Sage Hill (8-8) managed to go .500 in its nonleague schedule.

“Without him, I don’t know where we’d be,” Keith said.

McGee, an All-Academy League selection as a freshman, has taken his game up a notch.

“Last year he was more of a spot-up shooter, but now he’s taking it to the hole more and getting to the free throw line,” Keith said.

“I really like to shoot the three, and now I drive a lot and shoot these little floaters through the middle,” McGee said. “This year, I have more confidence shooting the three, and I’ve been working a lot on my free throws.”

McGee said he feels once the team is at full strength, they will be tough to beat in the Academy League.

“We haven’t had a full practice with our five starters yet,” he said. “But if we get on the same page and start playing as a team, we should be pretty good. We’re just now getting healthy and working everybody in.”

McGee said what’s happened up to now doesn’t matter.

“League is what counts,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to league, especially St. Margaret’s. We’ve developed a big rivalry with St. Margaret’s, so I always look forward to playing them.”

The Jamie McGee File

Hometown: Newport Coast

Height: 6-2

Weight: 175

Sport: Basketball

Position: Guard

Coach: Steve Keith

Favorite food: Steak

Favorite movie: “Wedding Crashers”

Favorite athletic moment: “Scoring 34 points in three quarters in the last game of the St. Anthony Tournament.”

Week in review: McGee scored 77 points in four games in the St. Anthony Tournament for a Sage Hill boys’ basketball team that was missing multiple players due to injury.20060107OI1MNN8RNo Caption20060107isp6exncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)