Boys basketball: Melum’s 30 points lead Harbor in first round

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - Like a good fly fisherman, Tony Melum baits his

opponent, then catches them in the wry.

Melum, a Newport Harbor High senior in the fall, scored from all

angles as the 6-foot-6 forward led the hosts to an easy 87-55 victory

Friday over Morro Bay in the opening round of the George Yardley Summer

Cage Classic.

“My philosophy is, if I can make a few shots and get people to come

out on me, I can then go around them and make a few dunks,” said Melum, a

second-team All-CIF Southern Section Division I performer last winter.

Melum scored 30 points in limited action, while fellow senior Greg

Perrine, a 6-foot guard, added 16 points, all but two coming in the first

half.

“Our first group really executed well,” Newport Harbor Coach Larry

Hirst said. “What we try to do on defense, we have to expend energy, then

the offense we just let it come about. We just caught a (Morro Bay) team

with some road legs. That happens when you drive all the way down from

there.”

Newport Harbor has a history of success in the boys basketball

tournament, formerly known as the Surf City Classic.

Last summer’s Sailors lost to Mater Dei in the championship game and

avenged a ’97 title-game loss to La Costa Canyon by beating the San Diego

County powerhouse in overtime for the ’98 crown.

The Sailors, who won the Rancho Verde Tournament earlier this summer,

suffocated Morro Bay’s offense in the first half, rolling to a 24-11 lead

after one quarter and a 49-27 halftime edge.

To open the third quarter, Perrine lobbed inside to Melum for a dunk

to ignite a 19-5 scoring run. During the spurt, Melum scored on two more

slams, including one with two hands to cap a fastbreak with 3:50 on the

clock, giving the Tars a 62-30 lead.

After 6-2 guard Derrick Dickson scored for Morro Bay, Melum sank two

free throws, Perrine added a layup and Jamie Diefenbach scored on a dunk

-- on a sweet pass from Perrine, a third-year starter -- with 2:42 left.

Dickson scored a team-high 30 points for Morro Bay.

GEORGE YARDLEY SUMMER CAGE CLASSIC

First round

Newport Harbor 87, Morro Bay 55

Score by Quarters

Morro Bay 11 16 10 18 - 55 Newport Harbor 24 25 24 14 - 87

Morro Bay - Boncher 4, Brookey 1, Dickson 30, Sigfried 2, Anderson 4,

Williams 10, Thomas 4.

3-pt. goals - Dickson 5, Williams 2.

Fouled out - None.

Technical fouls - None.

Newport Harbor - Perrine 16, Melum 30, Pajevic 10, Castillo 2, Rorden

6, Boyd 2, Cameron 9, Diefenbach 2, Melgar 7, Fortier 3.

3-pt. goals - Rorden 2, Perrine 1, Fortier 1.

Fouled out - None.

Technical fouls - None.