SOLANA BEACH — A year ago, Johnny Dee, finishing up a long professional basketball career abroad, sat in the stands during the CIF San Diego Section Open Division playoffs and watched Dax Hall play for the first time.
Then a junior, Hall was leading Santa Fe Christian into a 71-64 opening-round loss to Carlsbad, with the spotlight on his older brother, Jake — Lancers 3,000-point scorer and future University of New Mexico standout.
But Dee, who averaged 32 points per game as a senior at Rancho Buena Vista High School in 2010 before becoming the all-time leading scorer at the University of San Diego, left with a different takeaway.
The younger brother was the best player in the gym.
“No disrespect to Jake, because Jake is going to be Mountain West Freshman of the Year,” Dee, now in his first year as head coach at Santa Fe Christian, told The Coast News. “But when I watched the game last year, I thought Dax was the best player on the floor — because the kid does everything. He can make every pass. He is an unbelievable scorer. The knock on him for three years was that he couldn’t shoot the three-ball, and his brother shoots it as well as anybody in the country. So I can understand why that applies more at the college level. But if you look at Dax’s numbers this year, he’s shooting 45% from three.”
On Friday night, led by Dax Hall’s 30 points, the Eagles closed out the regular season with an 81-52 win over Tri-City Christian, improving to 25-3. Hall has been dominant all season, averaging 27 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists per game.
“To me, Dax is the best player in the county, and it’s not even particularly close,” Dee said. “And that’s no disrespect to anybody else. I’ve seen him want to guard the best player on every team — the ones most people don’t want to guard — and he outplays or outscores them every single game. He’s held Tavid [Johnson, Francis Parker] under his average both times we played him, and he did the same thing against CJ [Aldrich, RBV], holding him under his average. He doesn’t have a ton of weaknesses, and he’s incredibly coachable.”
“I would describe my offensive approach as a true point guard,” Hall added. “I know I’m a great scorer and can make plays, but my role as a point guard is to make the best play every time down the court. That leads to a lot of kickouts and putting my teammates in the best position to succeed. We’ve got a plethora of great shooters around us, which makes my job of passing easy, but also opens opportunities for me to score at a high level.”
While Hall has been the engine for Santa Fe Christian, Dee said the team’s depth has often been underappreciated. Junior guard Chase Othick is the only other double-digit scorer, averaging 14 points per game, but the contributions from the rest of the rotation have extended beyond the stat book.
“If you want to take away Dax, you’re going to have to do that at your own peril,” Dee said. “I really think we have one of the best deep-shooting teams in the county. We’ve got four or five guys who can knock it down. So if you want to double Dax or pack the paint, you’re basically just hoping we’re off that night.”
Hall singled out seniors Caden Doucette, a guard and team captain, and forward Everett Kerkhoff.
“Caden has worked super hard since the end of last year and has earned his role as a starter and captain. He’s been electric on the court for us and can take over games in an instant. He’s got what feels like unlimited energy, and he really helps fuel our team. Everett also deserves a big shout because this is his first year on the team, and the way he’s embraced his role is inspiring. He knew coming in he wasn’t going to be the best basketball player out there, but he does all the little things that keep the team going. Whatever it is, we know we can count on Everett to help us out, and I think he deserves recognition for his hard work.”
Dee called senior Jaden Hitipeuw a “spectacular” defender.
“He’s playing two through five for us, so he’s definitely up there,” Dee said. “If there was one thing we challenged him on, based on what I saw in the summer, it was that he was going to have to be a defender for us so we could keep teams in the 50s. He has taken that role and done an unbelievable job.”
The Eagles finished second in the Coastal League to Francis Parker, coming within 12 points of an undefeated season after losing twice to Parker by a combined total of just 10 points.
“It did feel, specifically in the first game, that Parker might have been a little more hungry than us,” Dee said. “Then in the second game, being on the road, we just weren’t quite ready. From an execution standpoint and a concentration standpoint, we messed up quite a few plays — mistakes that were uncharacteristic for this group. But in a way, that’s great, because it happened now, and we get to play the next day in league, and it’s not the end of our season. My perspective is: guys, we’re not a finished product.”
“We’ve taken a couple tough losses since our undefeated start, but I’m super proud of how we continue to work every day because we know our ultimate goal is still on the table,” Hall added.
Top-seeded Santa Fe Christian hosts Cathedral Catholic on Feb. 20 to kick off the Open Division playoffs.
CIF San Diego Section Open Division Playoffs
First Round – Friday, Feb. 20 (7:00 p.m.) @ Higher Seed
- #1 Santa Fe Christian vs. #8 Cathedral Catholic
- #4 Mission Bay vs. #5 Francis Parker
- #3 San Marcos vs. #6 Olympian
- #2 Victory Christian Academy vs. #7 La Costa Canyon
Second Round – Wednesday, Feb. 25 (7:00 p.m.) @ Higher Seed
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 28 (5:00 p.m.) @ Frontwave Arena
