Rapid Reaction: Santa Margarita 53, Oakland 44

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tarkanian Classic is consistently one of the premier pre-Christmas Tournaments and always features a strong contingent of Southern California-based programs. Though I'm not in physical attendance, the livestream via BallerTV allowed me to see Santa Margarita defeat NorCal-based Oakland High, 53-44, in a Nike Division semifinal Wednesday night at Bishop Gorman high school. Here are some of my rapid reaction thoughts from that game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Eagles fed Rockwell early and often</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It seemed like Santa Margarita made sure its big man, [player_tooltip player_id='994962' first='Rockwell' last='Reynolds'], got a touch every time down the floor in the first half. The Northern Arizona-signee is one of the best back-to-the-basket scorers in the state because of his combination of footwork, body control, touch and ability to finish shots at awkward angles. Oakland had no answer for the 6-foot-8 senior as his low block touches resulted in high percentage hooks and layups with either hand.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Defense has keyed Santa Margarita's 13-1 start</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If you look closely at the Eagles' coaching staff you'll see a familiar face among Southern California coaching circles and Andy Ground's speciality is the defensive side of the floor. Ground, who enjoyed a highly successful tenure as the coach at Saddleback College, is bringing his defensive principles to the high school level and it is working out nicely. The Eagles, as mentioned above, are 13-1 on the season and head into Thursday's Nike Division title game allowing just over 44 points per contest.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Moxie showed poise, control handling the point guard duties</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Santa Margarita doesn't ask its point guards to do much - just take care of the ball, run clean offense and defend and [player_tooltip player_id='1502883' first='Jonathan' last='Moxie'] filled that role nicely in the win over Oakland. The 6-foot-2 junior operated with good pace, handled ball pressure with poise, found the hot-hand throughout the game, and, most importantly, limited turnovers and defended his position well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Shooters weren't on, but the Eagles are dangerous when they are</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are games like Wednesday night when Santa Margarita's shooters aren't on and the Eagles rely on interior scoring to set the tone and pace the victory. But when guys like junior [player_tooltip player_id='1502798' first='Cameron' last='McNamee'], who was cold before hitting four three's in the second half, and freshman <strong>Brayden Kyman</strong> are hitting the three-ball with consistency, and Reynolds is dominating in the paint, Santa Margarita has the ability to compete with just about anyone in Southern California.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->