Sea View League : Corona del Mar Controls Tempo to Beat Newport

Halftime arrived with Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor high schools locked in a 14-14 tie in Wednesday night’s Sea View League game at Corona del Mar. Sea King Coach Jack Errion took his team into the locker room to begin plotting a strategy that would get his team into field goal position in the second half.

The tempo here was vintage Errion: deliberately deliberate. None of this fast-break stuff. And when Errion’s team sets the pace, it’s usually bad news for its opponent.

Bad news came to Newport Harbor in the form of a 47-32 loss in front of 1,100 spectators. The Sailors entered this game ranked second in Orange County. They had not lost since Dec. 20, when they were beaten by Poway of San Diego in the San Dieguito Tournament.

They left knowing how it feels to have a winning streak brought to a painfully slow halt.

After missing his first five shots and being held without a point in the first half, Corona del Mar center Steve Morris had two three-point plays early in the third quarter. In a game such as this, that was a scoring barrage.

Morris finished with 12 points and the Sea Kings made 17 of 25 free throws--all in the second half--to hold Newport at bay in “The Battle of the Bay.” Jeff Fryer, who had 10 of the Sea Kings’ 14 points in the first half, finished with a game-high 19.

All of this was quite a contrast from what took place when these teams met on Jan. 5. The pace in that game was considerably more to Newport Harbor’s liking, and the Sailors claimed a 73-50 win. Of course, it didn’t hurt the Sailors to shoot better than 28% in the first game. That’s what 14 of 50 computes to, and that’s what Newport Harbor shot from the field in the rematch.

Numbers such as those left Newport Harbor Coach Jerry DeBusk shaking his head as he left the Sea Kings’ gym.

“When it was 14-14 at the half we felt, if we could just make some shots, they couldn’t be so deliberate,” DeBusk said. “Geez, we just couldn’t get the shots to drop.”

The statistics of guard Chuck McGavran and forward Rob Mase best illustrated Newport Harbor’s frustrations. They had combined for 43 points in the first meeting, but made just 8 of 28 shots between them in the rematch and saw their scoring output cut to 20 points.

But even with Newport Harbor struggling, Corona del Mar took only a 25-24 lead into the fourth quarter. But Bob Zimmer and Rick Smirl each made 4 of 4 free throws in the final period and the Sea Kings went on an 11-4 scoring spurt to take a 36-28 lead. The way Corona del Mar was controlling the ball, that lead was insurmountable.

“You can’t allow them to get that kind of cushion,” DeBusk said. “Because when they do, they milk it.”

Zimmer finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds and combined with Morris to help negate Newport Harbor’s tremendous height advantage. The 6-foot 8-inch Morris is the only Corona del Mar player taller than 6-3. The Sailors start a front line that measures 6-4, 6-6, and 6-7.

“They did an excellent job of boxing out, as Jack’s teams always do,” DeBusk said. “And the ball always seemed to be bouncing where we weren’t.”

The loss dropped Newport Harbor (7-1, 16-3) into a tie with Estancia for the league lead. Corona del Mar (6-2, 13-5) is one game back and has won six straight. And it appears as if Errion’s team is right on pace.

NEWPORT HARBOR (32)--McGavran 12, Mase 8, Fraser 6, Beech 2, James 0, M. Lee 2, Sorensen 2.

CORONA DEL MAR (47)--Zimmer 10, Smirl 4, Fryer 19, Strauss 2, Morris 12.

In other Sea View League action:

Estancia 69, University 56--The Eagles went to a full-court press in the second quarter and outscored the Trojans in that period, 21-9, on the way to their win at University. Estancia (7-1, 19-2) was led by Todd Mooney’s 18 points. Brad Arnold paced University (0-8, 4-13) with 20 points.

ESTANCIA (69)--Lockwood 12, Van Doren 5, Mooney 18, Clements 16, Stamps 13, Covey 1, Furin 1, Isaak

UNIVERSITY (56)--Paulson 4, Arnold 20, Winslow 2, Stolzoff 8, Glassen 13, Mask 2, Drljecvic 7.

Saddleback 83, Costa Mesa 65--The Roadrunners (5-3, 12-7) played an intense, cohesive game from the start, seizing a 20-8 advantage in the first quarter at Saddleback. Mark and Bryant Walton combined for 23 first-half points for the Roadrunners. Mitch Pelichowski scored 18 points for the Mustangs while teammate John Carlson came off the bench to add 10.

COSTA MESA (65)--Pelichowski 18, Kimme 10, Stroich 10, Judd 10, Louden 7, Carlson 10.

SADDLEBACK (83)--B. Walton 25, Peterson 12, M. Walton 21, Deal 11, Cook 6, Santa Cruz 2, Golden 1, Butler 5.

Woodbridge 49, Laguna Beach 47--With the score tied at 47-47 with 20 seconds left, Warrior sophomore David Townsend narrowly missed a baseline jumper. But freshman reserve center Adam Keefe was in position to take the rebound and score, giving the young Warriors (2-6, 4-11) their second league win. Coby Naess of Laguna Beach (3-5) scored 16 points and teammate Sean Jordan had 13.

LAGUNA BEACH (47)--Naess 16, Jordan 13, Watford 3, Herdman 7, McGrath 8.

WOODBRIDGE (49)--Murphy 6, Bryan 8, Keefe 10, Townsend 11, Cryer 2, Lyon 4, Sullivan 8.