Santa Margarita boys basketball loses to St. John Bosco in 2OT thriller

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – The two boys basketball teams played at the high level their rankings would suggest and the stars performed like stars.

The entertaining and dramatic game between St. John Bosco and Santa Margarita went into double overtime, and the Braves prevailed, 74-73, on Friday in the Trinity League opener for both teams at Santa Margarita High.

Santa Margarita, No. 2 in the latest computer-created CIF Southern Section rankings, is 19-3 overall. The Eagles had won six in a row since a loss to Utah’s Timpview on Dec. 22. St. John Bosco (12-4) is No. 5 in the CIF-SS rankings.

The CalHiSports.com state rankings have Santa Margarita at No. 3 and St. John Bosco at No. 5.

The stars, seniors Kaiden Bailey of Santa Margarita and Christian Collins of St. John Bosco, shined all night and especially at critical times.

Collins, a 6-8 guard who has an abundance of college offers, scored off an offensive rebound in the final seconds of regulation to tie the game, 62-62, and send it into overtime.

Collins scored on a drive in the final seconds of the second overtime to put the Braves up by four points and secure their victory.

Bailey, who signed with Georgia Tech, scored on a spin move in the final seconds of the first overtime to tie it 68-68.

From the fourth quarter through the second overtime Bailey scored 16 points.

Collins finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Bailey scored 29 points with eight assists. He made three 3-point baskets.

Santa Margarita senior forward Drew Anderson, an Oregon State signee, scored 20 points. Eagles senior forward Brayden Kyman, who signed with Washington State, scored 16 points with four 3-pointers.

Kyman’s final 3-pointer was a 28-footer at the buzzer of the second overtime to make what was a four-point game a one-point loss for the Eagles.

St. John Bosco senior guard Gavin Dean-Moss scored 15 points. Braves senior guard Tariq Iscandari scored 13 with three 3-pointers. Bosco 7-foot senior Howie Wu scored 15 points.

Santa Margarita coach Justin Bell was disappointed by the result but pleased with the Eagles’ effort.

“We played with passion,” Bell said. “We played hard, but we’ve got some things to clean up.”

Santa Margarita had its biggest lead of the night, eight points, twice in the third quarter. The Eagles took a 53-47 lead into the fourth quarter.

A breakaway dunk by Kyman gave Santa Margarita a 61-57 lead with 1:46 left in regulation. Dean-Moss made a 3 to make it 61-60. Anderson made one of two throws to push the lead to 62-60.

Collins, who rebounded a missed outside shot by Bosco’s Max Ellis, banked in a shot to make the score 62-62 and push the game into overtime.

An inside move by Collins in the first overtime put the Braves on top 68-66. Bailey drove and spun his way to the basket to create a 68-68 tie and a second overtime period.

Santa Margarita did not score for almost the first three minutes of the second overtime, finally getting some points on two Bailey free throws with 1:03 to go. Those free throws cut the Eagles’ deficit to two points, 72-70.

The long-armed Collins scored on a smooth drive to stretch the Bosco lead to 74-70 with four seconds left.

“He’s one of the best players in the country,” Bell said of Collins. “He made a play there at the end.”

St. John Bosco plays a league game at home Tuesday against Mater Dei, which beat Servite 95-76 in a league opener Friday.

Santa Margarita plays at Mayfair in a nonleague game Tuesday, then plays at JSerra in a league game Friday, Jan. 16.

The Trinity League teams play each other only once this season. The league will have a postseason tournament much like the college conference tournaments that precede the NCAA Tournament.