Pacifica Christian Orange County boys' basketball overcomes slow start to beat Santa Margarita

Pacifica Christian Orange County's Judah Brown drives between Santa Margarita's Jake Heberle, left, and Jack McCloskey during a nonleague game on Wednesday in Rancho Santa Margarita.

By Matt SzaboStaff Writer

Nov. 20, 2019 11:23 PM PT

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA —

Shots were not falling, and the Pacifica Christian Orange County High boys’ basketball team was getting buried on the road early in Wednesday’s season opener at Santa Margarita.

The Tritons fell behind by 13 points late in the first quarter, and star senior wing Judah Brown and junior point guard Houston Mallette both picked up two early fouls.

Pacifica Christian’s response pleased coach Jeff Berokoff, and it started on the defensive end.

The Tritons took control and went on to a 63-53 victory, paced by 19 points and 10 rebounds from Brown and 17 points from senior guard Charles Erving.

Erving, a transfer from Segerstrom who shared the Golden West League MVP award last season, said he was relieved to play his first official game with the Tritons. He is a welcome addition for Pacifica Christian, which advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division 4AA title game last year.

Pacifica Christian Orange County's Charles Erving makes an easy layup past Santa Margarita's Aldo Ruiz-Ortiz, left, during a nonleague game on Wednesday.

“It felt amazing,” Erving said. “I’ve been preparing for this so long, and I’m just blessed. It’s a blessing to be with this group.”

Pacifica Christian trimmed its deficit to 26-22 by halftime, then seized control with a 28-9 third quarter. Mallette came alive with nine points in the quarter, including a four-point play that gave Pacifica Christian its first lead of the game.

“We were missing shots early, so that doesn’t help anybody, and we weren’t playing defense like we’ve been working on for the last two months,” Berokoff said. “I think once we got the jitters out of our first game and the kids saw the ball going in a couple of times, that really helped ... He was big in the big moments in the second half. He normally steps up when the game’s getting a little tense, so I expect nothing less from him in that area.”

Senior forward Josh Sims scored eight points and sophomore guard Riyaan Jiwani added six for the Tritons, who found a way to respond to the Eagles’ early push that included nine points from sophomore guard Jack McCloskey in the opening quarter.

Santa Margarita, last year’s Division 1 champion, showed it can still be dangerous despite losing players like Jake Kyman (UCLA) and Max Agbonkpolo (USC) to graduation.

“They’re a really, really good team,” said Brown, who’s bound for St. Mary’s College. “I love it because it shows we believe in each other and we have heart. It gives us a glimpse of what we can achieve with four quarters of a game, after coming down with a slow start. If we can get that in the beginning of the game, we can be really, really good.”

Pacifica Christian Orange County's Houston Mallette, right, saves a ball from going out of bounds while grabbing the jersey of Santa Margarita's Selah Robins during a nonleague game on Wednesday.

Pacifica Christian returns to action when it hosts Temecula Rancho Christian on Friday at 8 p.m. at Vanguard University. Rancho Christian, ranked No. 19 in the country by Maxpreps.com, features Gonzaga commit Dominick Harris and USC commit Evan Mobley. Harris, now a senior, played at Pacifica Christian as a freshman and sophomore before he transferred to Rancho Christian for his junior season.

“We’re pushing 1,000 people already in pre-sale tickets,” Berokoff said. “It’s going to be a fun game. I’m excited to welcome back Dominick Harris, who I coached for two years [and he helped us make the Division 6 final in our inaugural season in 2016-17]. I love the kid. I was trying to give him a special moment to come back to our gym and play one more time, before he heads off to Gonzaga next year.

“It’s going to be a fun game. Geez, they’re awfully good. It’s going to be a tall, tall order, but our kids will compete and have fun. It’ll be a great night for our community and our school to see some great basketball, and a top team in the country.”