Estancia falls behind Santa Margarita, 64-22

COSTA MESA — No one can say that Estancia High doesn’t has heart.

Unfortunately heart wasn’t enough to overcome the size advantage Santa Margarita had on the Eagles.

Coming into the game the Estancia boys’ basketball team (2-8) knew that it would have its hands full in the paint, so it devised a plan to surprise Santa Margarita (9-0) in the nonleague matchup Thursday and focus on the big men.

But Estancia could not match up and lost its home opener, 64-22.

“We tried to key on their post players and take them out of the game,” Estancia Coach Scott Kahawai said. “I think we did a good job in the first half … the thing that hurt us most was our defensive rebounding.”

After playing Orange Lutheran Friday, this proved to be a tough two games for Estancia and its new coach. Both opponents play in the ultra-competitive Trinity League, in which powerhouse Mater Dei plays in.

“This was a schedule I inherited,” Kahawai said. “I came in late so it was pretty much set. I was thinking ‘wow what did I get myself into.’”

With Santa Margarita plugging up the inside with two 6-foot-9 players, undersized Estancia tried its luck from outside, but the balls just weren’t bouncing right for the Estancia players.

Estancia got its first points with 4:49 remaining in the first period when sophomore guard Troy McClanahan hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 9-3. On the other end, Troy’s brother Taylor McClanahan stopped Santa Margarita’s Klay Thompson from a slam dunk. Thompson had an easy break-away dunk minutes earlier, but this time Taylor McClanahan was in the lane to stop him in his tracks.

After that, Estancia’s frustration, and deficit grew with each missed scoring opportunity and every lost rebound.

Troy McClanahan, who finished with six points, helped cut into the lead one more time when he drained another shot from long range as the clock expired in the first quarter, making the deficit only 14 points.

The second quarter was a different story for Estancia as they almost played to a tie with Santa Margarita and were only outscored by two points. Riley Hart led Estancia with six of eight points in the period. Hart hit from beyond the arc twice while Taylor McClanahan became the first to score from inside.

Things didn’t go so smooth in the second half.

Held scoreless for the game, Blake Pinto lost his cool after having the ball stolen. In an attempt to block the pick-pocket, he was called for a foul. Clearly upset with the call, he let it be known and was called for the foul, a technical and ejected from the game.

“Most of the time he’s usually a cool customer,” Kahawai said. “But he can get frustrated, especially if the other team is doing a good job of taking him out of what he wants to do.”

Nonleague

Santa Margarita 64,

Estancia 22

Score by Quarters

SM 20 10 16 18 — 64 Estancia 6 8 3 5 — 22

Santa Margarita -- Serna 23, Zaragossa 20, Mina 4, Johnson 4, K. Thompson 4, Pancoe 3, Pearce 3, Munoz 2, T. Thompson 1.

3-pt. goals -- Zaragosa 1, Pearce 1.

Estancia -- Hart 9, Tr. McClanahan 6, McKendry 3, Ta. McClanahan 2, Mullins 2.

3-pt. goals -- Hart 3, Tr. Mclanahan 2.

Fouled out -- Pinto.

Technicals -- Pinto 1.