Boys’ Basketball: Sage Hill’s dramatic win stops losing streak against Brethren Christian
HUNTINGTON BEACH — It had been seven seasons since Coach Jeff Beeler last led the Sage Hill School boys’ basketball team past Brethren Christian. The losing skid stood at 13 games.
Sage Hill finally put an end to its losing ways against Brethren Christian. On the road, the Lightning edged the Warriors, 39-37, in dramatic fashion at Liberty Christian High on Saturday night.
Clutch free-throw shooting by Tyler Hague and Mario Nark, as well as key rebounding by Chance Kuehnel down the stretch kept Sage Hill two games out of first place in the Academy League with two to go. Next week is the final one in league play, and it’s a huge one for the Lightning.
If Sage Hill (16-6, 7-3 in league) can close things out with two wins, it will have a set a single-season record for overall wins and it’s possible it can move up from third place. The team clinched at least third in league and matched its best win total in league with the victory on Saturday.
Sage Hill is trying to catch St. Margaret’s and Crean Lutheran, who are atop the league at 9-1. Crean Lutheran is at Sage Hill on Tuesday, and Sage Hill won at Crean Lutheran, 59-55, on Jan. 20. A win by the Lightning in the second meeting against the Saints and second place in league isn’t out of the picture. Crean Lutheran wraps up league at defending league champion St. Margaret’s on Thursday.
“We have to take care of business and then hope that our rival St. Margaret’s takes care of business,” Beeler said. “This one is special because we’ve had some close ones [against Brethren Christian, losing, 44-42, at home on Jan. 17, losing, 50-47, last season, and losing, 41-40, two seasons ago], and we just couldn’t get over the hump. [Brethren Christian] Coach [Jon Bahnsen] prepares his guys well, but they can’t reach for us at third. If things happen in the right way, we can get [second].”
The program’s previous runner-up finish came five seasons ago, when Sage Hill posted 17 wins, setting a school record. Sage Hill is already bound for the CIF Southern Section Division 5AA playoffs, but it wants to avoid traveling in the first round. In the past two seasons, Sage Hill has lost in the opening round at Santa Monica Crossroads by an average of 20 points per game.
Sage Hill looks to play host to its first postseason game since the 2009-10 season. Hague helped his team’s cause, scoring six of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. He hit two free throws with 16.1 seconds left, giving the Lightning a 39-36 lead.
On the ensuing possession, Krishan Tarsadia, who had nine points and three steals, fouled Brethren Christian’s Andrew Hall right away, sending him to the free-throw line with 13.4 seconds remaining. The foul made sense because Hall had missed three straight free throws with 3:15 left to play and was unable to cut into Sage Hill’s four-point lead at the time.
Hall only converted the first of the two foul shots, putting him at 10 points. The second free throw was an airball, keeping Sage Hill ahead by two.
Nevertheless, the Warriors (7-17, 4-7), who are fighting for the league’s fourth and final guaranteed postseason berth with Whitney, had another chance to tie the game and send it into overtime. But an off-balance shot by Josh Duren (22 points) in the waning seconds was unsuccessful. Kuehnel came up with his sixth rebound, before sending an outlet pass to Hague to secure Sage Hill’s first win against the Warriors since Beeler’s debut season with the Lightning.
Academy League
Sage Hill 39, Brethren Christian 37
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Sage Hill 13 – 4 – 8 – 14 — 39
Brethren 10 – 7 – 8 – 12 — 37
SH – Hague 13, McCord 11, Tarsadia 9, Kuehnel 2, Drobenko 2, Nark 2.
3-pt. goals – Tarsadia 1, McCord 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
BC – Duren 22, Hall 10, Glavinic 3, Miller 2.
3-pt. goals – Duren 3, Hall 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.