Undefeated Dana Hills gets off to sizzling start and rolls to victory against Portola

Players from Dana Hills and Portola meet after Tuesday’s game. (Photo: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Dana Hills boys basketball team got off to a torrid start in the first quarter and rolled to an 85-48 victory over Portola Tuesday night in the first game of the Portola-Woodbridge Classic at Portola.

The Dolphins (5-0) led 23-4 after one quarter and 48-17 at halftime and were never seriously challenged after that by Portola (3-4).

Collin Haugh continued his outstanding season scoring 18 points to lead the Dolphins. Ryan Torab added 13 points and Logan Scodeller 11 points for Dana Hills.

“We played well, we jumped on them early,” said Dana Hills Coach Tom Desiano. “We were able to get some turnovers and get our hands on some loose balls and we were able to convert those into buckets and when we can do that, it’s pretty tough to beat us in those situations and we played well early and we kind of continued it. We continued to put the pressure on them and overall it was a good team win.

“The big emphasis during the holiday break was to share the ball, and when we share the ball we have a lot of guys who can put it in the basket and when we do that, it puts a lot of pressure on another team’s defense to defend five guys. and that’s what we want and that will open some things up for guys.”

Haugh, the junior guard, got off to a great start scoring 16 of his points in the first half. The Dolphins substituted freely in the fourth quarter.

“We put them out quick which was good and we didn’t look back from there, it was good,” said Haugh, who had four 3-pointers. “We all got it going early, we had some good scorers and then late a bunch of guys helped us.”

It was a tough night from the start for a young Portola team, but Coach Brian Smith remained upbeat.

“It started bad, that’s a good team and we knew that coming in, obviously they shoot the ball really well and they shot the ball exceptionally well in the first quarter,” Smith said. “Our whole game plan was to come in and try not to let them have a big quarter and I think our first two possessions we turned the ball over. We just have to get better, some of our main guys didn’t shoot well, didn’t play well.

“It’s a growing and learning process for us. We got to get back at it tomorrow against a good Laguna Beach team. It will be a tough week, but we’re looking toward the league play. We knew it was going to be rough because we lost 11 seniors and we got a lot of guys playing for the first time on varsity, so it’s going to take some time. We will be all right.”

Portola was led by Brock Smith, the son of the head coach who had 11 points, including one 3-pointer.

Trabuco Hills plays Dana Hills Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and Portola meets Laguna Beach at 7 p.m. at Portola in the Portola-Woodbridge Classic that runs through Saturday.

Each team is guaranteed four games in the event.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com