Sage Hill makes debut from afar

You’ve got to start somewhere, even if it’s a remote Riverside County

town few Orange Countians have heard of. So, the Sage Hill School

boys basketball team makes its debut in the CIF Southern Section

Playoffs at Division IV-A foe Hamilton High tonight at 7:30.

“I’ll call in our results on a satellite phone,” quipped Sage Hill

Coach Steve Keith, who learned the round-trip may require about five

hours on a bus.

Even at 4,000 feet, however, the Sage Hill squad, as they say, is

happy to be there.

Keith’s Lightning (10-13) finished third in the Academy League to

earn its first postseason invitation in two varsity seasons. Last

year, the Lightning lost a third-place playoff game and missed the

playoffs.

Hamilton (17-4) is the quintessential mystery opponent. The Big

Sky League champions’ tallest player is 6-foot-3 senior center Jared

Davis, but, beyond that, no details could be culled.

Sage Hill’s scouting report features little mystery. The Lightning

rely on 6-3 senior point guard Michael Fitzhugh (22.1 points per

game) and 6-3 junior wing Kevin Joyce (14.6 ppg) for nearly all of

their production. No other player still on the 10-man roster has

scored in double figures.

Sage Hill went 6-6 in its final 12 season games and has yet to put

a three-game streak together.

“As a team, I liked the way we looked in February as opposed to

how we looked in December and January,” said Keith.

Tonight’s winner will visit Los Angeles-based Yeshiva, which

receives a first-round bye, in Friday’s second round.

-- by Barry Faulkner