Sage Hill wakes up after half

NEWPORT COAST — As the clock wound down, Sage Hill School backup point guard Tom Multari launched a three-pointer from the corner.

The shot went in with seconds left in the game, causing the Lightning coaching staff to grin on the sideline.

It just seemed like a fitting end to a second-half clinic by Sage Hill. The Lightning dropped 47 points after the intermission, topping Redlands Adventist Academy, 78-46, in a first-round CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA playoff game Wednesday at Sage Hill.

No. 16-seeded Sage Hill (14-12) plays at No. 2-seeded Ontario Christian on Friday night in second-round action.

The 78 points on Wednesday was a season-high for Sage, which was also playing its first home CIF boys’ basketball playoff game in school history.

“Defense and momentum, that’s what we feed off of,” said Lightning junior Jamie McGee, who had a game-high 22 points and added three steals. “Once we got our defense going, we got momentum going and just started running on them.”

Sage Hill Coach Steve Keith saw his team play Redlands Adventist (15-10) tight for a half, taking just a 31-29 lead into the break.

Bulldogs’ senior guard Josh McCullum seemed to drive the lane at will in the first half, on his way to 14 first-half points.

“Our defensive effort in the first half was just unacceptable,” Keith said. “We were giving them dribble penetration to the basket, and getting out-hustled. We didn’t come out with the intensity you need for a CIF first-round game.”

But things changed early in the third quarter, when Sage Hill put up 27 points, which Keith said was the most the Lightning had scored in a quarter this year. Many of those were in transition off steals by either McGee or Troy Astorino, who had 12 points — all in the second half — and four steals.

“We just had to get it together defensively,” said Sage junior Preston Oklejas, who had six of his 13 points in the quarter. “We wanted to make it to the second round, so we tried to step it up defensively.”

Sage Hill’s cause was also helped when McCullum went down hard with 4:44 left in the quarter. He came up hobbling on his left ankle and could only return to the game in the fourth quarter, when Sage had opened up a 21-point lead.

“He held us together in the first half,” Redlands Adventist Coach Jason Hinkle said. “We were really stagnant when he went down. We weren’t setting our screens, and we weren’t moving the ball. It allowed them to put pressure on us, and created turnovers to give them easy baskets.”

Freshman Brian Hurst had seven points off the bench in the first half for the Lightning, and starting point guard Nick Witte had six points and four assists.

Connor Rose added nine points and five rebounds for the Lightning.

“Jamie McGee’s our go-to guy, and he was again tonight,” Keith said. “But in our best games, we show some balance, and I think we did that.”

CIF Southern Section

Division IV-AA First Round

Sage Hill 78,

Redlands Adventist 46

Score by Quarters

Redlands 14 15 8 9 — 46

Sage Hill 16 15 27 20 — 78

Redlands Adventist -- McCullum 16, Adkins 13, Garcia 9, MacArewa 6, Harris 2.

3-pt. goals -- Adkins 1, Garcia 1.

Sage Hill -- McGee 22, Oklejas 13, Astorino 12, Rose 9, B. Hurst 7, Witte 6, Multari 5, Duncan 2, D. Hurst 2.

3-pt. goals -- Multari 1, McGee 1, Rose 1, B. Hurst 1.