SAN YSIDRO BESTS SHORT-HANDED KNIGHTS

San Ysidro 66, San Marcos 52

In a game that resembled high-speed bumper cars as much as it did basketball, San Ysidro sped up the game, forced 22 San Marcos turnovers and ran away with a 66-52 Open Division quarterfinal win Saturday night.

Seventh-seeded San Ysidro (22-7) advances to play at No. 3-seeded Torrey Pines, a winner over Cathedral Catholic, on Wednesday.

All Open Division teams advance to the Southern California playoffs, San Marcos (22-6), seeded second, must

wait until next Sunday to find out its next opponent.

San Marcos and San Ysidro played two weeks ago at Mission Bay and San Marcos held on for a 67-61 win with Yale-bound Devon Arlington scoring 18 points, including four crucial fourthquarter free throws.

Arlington, who averages 20 points a game, didn’t play Saturday, nursing a sore Achilles he injured last week in a game against archrival Mission Hills.

“San Marcos was missing its best player, but they played hard,” said San Ysidro’s Sebastian Medina. “That’s a dangerous team. No matter who’s playing, we try to speed the game up, make them uncomfortable, force turnovers.”

The Cougars forced San Marcos into 22 turnovers and built a 17-point lead in the third quarter.

San Marcos cut the deficit to 10 early in the third quarter, but could get no closer.

“It was just a matter of doing our jobs,” said San Ysidro’s Martin Flores. “San Marcos is good. We knew we’d get their best effort, so we had to work harder.”

San Ysidro had four players in double figures, led by Flores’ 21. He also had six rebounds. Miguel Figueroa had 15, including four 3pointers, two when San Marcos got close. Medina added 11 and Andrei Tovar finished with 10.

Ian Ianniciello led San Marcos with 16 points while Evan Record added 13.

The Knights hope to have Arlington back when the play next. “I’m walking now, that’s progress,” Arlington said. “Still can’t run or jump. I’ll be back for the state playoffs.”