To the surprise of no one who knows the Dillon family, senior Colin Dillon set the Ramona High single-season 3-point field goal record this year.
Like father, like son.
Colin’s father, Mark, is the CIF-San Diego Section single-season 3-point field goal all-time leader with 145 when attending Valhalla High in 1991.
“My dad taught me about shooting the three,” said the 18-year-old senior who takes at least 500 long-range shots a day, often with his dad there to rebound.
He finished with 123 treys, breaking the school record of 112 by Blake Seits set in 2015-16.
The 123 is equal to No. 5 according to the section record book, matching Montgomery’s Alex Torres (2014-15) and eight behind Granite Hills’ Nick Taylor (2005-06).
Colin made it in impressive fashion, burying a season-high 11 field goals from beyond the arc on Senior High in the final regular-season home game to move to 119, then added four more in the playoffs, ending the year with a team-high 18.2 points a game.
He finished with 221 career treys but that was in only three seasons and Seits had 346 while playing all four years on the varsity.
“I played junior varsity as a freshman — I was just 5-foot-5 — and I averaged 8.0 points a game,” said Dillon, who had a big growth spurt of seven inches his sophomore year when he was more of a role player, making just 15 long-range shots (and averaging 2.0 points a game).
As a junior he upped that to 83 (10.8 point average) even while teammate Chase Newman was pouring in 86 — not a bad 1-2 punch.
TV commentators gush over three-point shooters who can make 40 percent of their attempts and Dillon is at 38 percent (123-323) to go along with 48 percent from inside the line (49-103).
Opponents learned it was futile to foul Dillon as he hit a glittering 85 percent from the free throw line (42-50).
The shooting guard is now 6-foot-3 and projected to top out at 6-6.
“After my sophomore year I got the green light to shoot, whenever and wherever,” he said. “I had one in the playoffs where I made it from just inside the half-court line, but I didn’t try anything longer.
“I went to a San Diego State game this year and really hoped they’d call my name for a half-court shot at halftime, but they didn’t.”
Jones believes Dillon will fit right in at the next level, especially if he does grow some.
“He can shoot it, close or far,” said Jones. “He’ll have a good chance in college if he grows to 6-5 or 6-6…that’s a good-sized shooting guard. This year he got his 123 despite playing against a lot of box-and-one and other defenses set up to stop him.
“There were times when we’d hold our breath when he shot because a shooter always thinks they’re open, but he came through. If he’s 6-6, they’ll see he can play defense and although he has a good first step, he’ll work on that to have a great one.
“He’ll also fill out, so he’ll become a more physical player. The thing about Colin is he’s a great leader out there and that’s a real plus at the next level.”
Dillon carries a 3.5 GPA (out of a possible 4.0) and says now that the season is over, he’s ing numerous colleges with an eye on Cal State San Marcos, which is close to home.
He has even started thinking about what he wants to do after college, considering becoming a teacher like his dad and mom, Jill, who are both elementary school teachers in Ramona.
But until then, he’s continuing his daily routine of launching at least 500 threes.
