Kaiden Bailey leads Santa Margarita basketball to key league victory over JSerra

Star junior Kaiden Bailey scored 19 of his game-high 24 points in the second half.

Santa Margarita’s Kaiden Bailey. / Tarek Fattal

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CALIF. — Wins this late in the season are big, especially in the Trinity League, which has a four-way traffic jam at the top.

Coming into Friday night, St. John Bosco and JSerra were tied at 6-2 while Santa Margarita and Mater Dei sit at 5-2 with one week left in the regular season.

“Every game is big in this league,” Santa Margarita guard Kaiden Bailey said.

Bailey delivered a big performance with 24 points, including 13 in the fourth, to help Santa Margarita erase a 14-point, second-half deficit en route to 65-60 league victory over JSerra on the road.

Kaiden Bailey has taken his game to a different level in the 4th quarter. He’s got 9 of his 19 in this final frame.

In transition, and-1.

Santa Margarita 52, JSerra 52. 3 to play pic.twitter.com/Fvikt1xEuR

— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) February 1, 2025

“There wasn’t anything in particular I did,” Bailey said humbly. “Our team played much better defense (in the second half) and it led this victory.”

Santa Margarita trailed 40-26 in the third quarter before igniting an 11-0 run to pull within 43-40 at the end of the third quarter. Bailey converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to give the Eagles its first lead of the game, 46-45, with six minute to play in the final frame.

Bailey’s best string of magic in the fourth quarter came when he hit back-to-back 3s before assisting Drew Anderson on a corner 3-pointer that gave the Eagles a 59-54 lead with under two minutes to play. Anderson finished with 15 points.

Rodney Westmoreland later hit a corner 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 62-57 lead with 37 left.

Kaiden Bailey to Drew Anderson. 3ball. GOOD.

Santa Margarita 62, JSerra 57. 37 seconds left

SM trailed 40-26 in 3Q pic.twitter.com/QpEmNKyqeX

— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) February 1, 2025

“We never panicked,” Bailey said. “Coach told us worry about the little things, like rebounding, not turning the ball over, and talking on defense — we did that.”

JSerra’s Brannon Martinsen led the Lions with 17 points. SMU commit BJ Davis-Ray was held to just three points. Santa Margarita’s Brayden Kyman, who was the hero in Monday’s win over St. John Bosco by hitting the game-winning shot with no time left, finished with 10 points.

The victory puts Santa Margarita at 6-2 in league play and drops JSerra to 6-3. The Eagles now have two wins over JSerra this season.

To put more value into the win, the victory is likely to bump Santa Margarita up in the playoff computer rankings, which is used to determine the CIF Southern Section basketball playoffs this postseason. The Eagles currently sit at No. 9.

The big question with one week left in the season is how many teams will be in the Open Division?’

The traditional eight? 10? More?

• WHAT A 10-TEAM OPEN DIVISION COULD LOOK LIKE

Only time will tell … but Friday night’s win should help Santa Margarita be a mainstay in the Open, regardless of how many teams are selected.