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    San Juan Hills boys basketball defeats San Clemente in South Coast League showdown
    • January 23, 2025

    SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — San Juan Hills’ boys basketball team took pole position in the race for the South Coast League championship Wednesday by beating San Clemente 77-66 at San Juan Hills High.

    The win makes San Juan Hills (17-7, 5-0) the lone undefeated team in the South Coast League standings.

    San Clemente (18-5, 3-1) had an 11-game league winning streak that dated back to last season.

    “They got us twice last year and it stung but we remembered that,” San Juan Hills senior Mason Hodges said. “I’ve been preparing to play this team for a whole year, so I was hungry. Obviously we play them again and have to take care of business, but we needed this.”

    Hodges played like a man who had the game circled on his calendar for a year. He had 38 points and 10 rebounds with six 3-pointers made.

    He finished just two points shy of his career-high of 40 points that he scored against Rancho Buena Vista on Dec.  9.

    “He’s amazing,” San Juan Hills coach Jason Efstathiou said of Hodges. “He’s maybe the best player I’ve ever coached in terms of where he is right now and he’s only getting better. He does everything for us. It’s like having another coach out there.”

    Hodges had some help from point guard Adam Aziz, who had 18 points of his own with five 3-pointers.

    The duo made their first three 3-pointers of the game and gave the Stallions an early 11-1 lead.

    San Juan Hills shot 57 percent from 3-point range in the first half and 52 percent for the game.

    “We shot the ball really well and I feel like we are on a nice stretch right now,” Efstathiou said. “The boys have been putting the work in beyond practice like open gyms. We are getting shots up.”

    San Clemente trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half, but never went away due to its own 3-point shooting. The Tritons made 8 of 13 3-pointers in the second half.

    Porter Hansen led San Clemente with 29 points and made six 3-pointers. Christian Fernandez had 25 points.

    “That was so scary,” Efstathiou said. “Hansen and Fernandez, those guys just don’t miss. And then we missed a couple of free throws and I’m thinking “oh no.” Thank goodness we built that lead up.”

    Cameron Goltara had nine points for San Juan Hills and Trey Webb added eight and made a pair of 3-pointers.

    San Juan Hills had zero turnovers in the first half and just five for the game.

    Kai Van Olst had a pair of blocks for San Clemente and Braeden Baggs led the team with six rebounds.

    The two teams have dominated the rest of the South Coast League. San Juan Hills has won its other league games by an average margin of 32 points. San Clemente has won its league games by an average margin of 19 points.

    The second meeting between the two teams is the regular-season finale at San Clemente on Feb. 4. It will likely decide if the teams will share a league championship or if San Juan Hills wins it outright.

    “We have not accomplished our goal yet,” Efstathiou said. “If anyone thinks that now they can relax, then it’s not going to go well for us. We have to be ready every single game.”

    ​ Orange County Register 

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