Santa Fe Christian poised for playoff success with USD’s top all-time scorer at the helm

Johnny Dee, in his first year as head coach at Santa Fe Christian High School, knows a thing or two about scoring.

Dee, the all-time points leader at the University of San Diego says his senior standout Dax Hall already has surpassed who he was as a high school player during his 32-point-per-game senior season at Rancho Buena Vista High in 2010.

“I’ve told multiple college coaches I know he’s a better player than I was,” Dee said. “When I was [his age], I had a lot to learn — how to guard, how to play with intensity, how to take it seriously. Even spacing-wise, I was figuring it out by watching clips. I was just running around asking for the ball so I could play one-on-one. That’s not a sustainable way to play basketball. Dax really sees the floor. He knows when to make a pass, when to take a shot, and if you
double him, he’s willing to adjust. I wasn’t quite there yet.”

For the Eagles, who closed the regular season last Friday with an 81–52 win over Tri-City Christian to improve to 25–3, Hall has averaged 27 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per game. He is the younger brother of Jake Hall, who scored 3,106 career points at Carlsbad — second all-time in San Diego history — and is now a standout freshman at the University of New Mexico.

“Jake has had a ton of influence on me as a player,” Dax Hall said. “But if I were to point out one thing, it would be his work ethic. He always worked the hardest, and it really paid off for him and his success. I try to replicate that and work as hard as I can to keep getting better.”

The first time Dee saw Dax play was from the stands during last year’s Open Division playoffs, when Santa Fe Christian fell 71–64 to Carlsbad and Jake Hall. While the older Hall drew most of the attention, Dee — fresh off retiring from his own professional career as a player abroad — left the gym with a different impression: the younger Hall was the best player on the floor.

“No disrespect to Jake, because Jake is going to be Mountain West Freshman of the Year,” Dee said. “But when I watched the game last year, I thought Dax was the better player — 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.”

“I would describe my offensive approach as a true point guard,” Dax 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.”

For Dee, Hall’s impact goes beyond scoring; his defensive effort and willingness to take on the toughest matchups are what truly set him apart.

“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.”

The top seed in the Open Division section playoffs tipping off Friday night, Solana Beach’s Santa Fe Christian finished second in the Coastal League to Francis Parker, narrowly missing an undefeated season. They lost to Parker by a combined 10 points and had an early-season two-point setback to Moreau Catholic after 13 straight wins to open the year.

“It did feel, specifically in the first game, that Parker might have been a little hungrier 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.”

While Hall has carried much of the load for Santa Fe Christian, Dee said the team’s depth has been overlooked. Junior guard Chase Othick is the only other double-digit scorer, averaging 14 points per game, but contributions from the rest of the rotation extend well beyond the stat sheet.

“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 also highlighted seniors Caden Doucette, the team’s captain and guard, 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 praised senior Jaden Hitipeuw as 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.”

Santa Fe Christian hosts eight-seed Cathedral Catholic on Friday. Second-round play will be Wednesday with the championship game to follow Feb. 28 at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside.

“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.