Girls basketball: Sea Kings edge Uni

Tony Altobelli

IRVINE - It wasn’t a game for the highlight reels, but for Corona

del Mar High’s girls basketball team, Tuesday’s 49-45 Pacific Coast

League win over host University will definitelybe remembered.

Not only did the win give the Sea Kings 20 wins this season, not bad for

a team that had had not made the playoffs since 1996, but they clinched a

share of the Pacific Coast League crown, their first league title in

recent memory.

CdM could win the title outright with a home win against Costa Mesa

Thursday night at 7.

“I’m very happy right now,” Coach Elbert Davis said. “You have to go back

pretty deep, I’m guessing, to find out the last time we won 20 games.

This one was ugly, but we’ll take it.”

For the Trojans (10-15, 2-5 in league), it was a case of too much McCoy.

Freshman Jackie McCoy led the Sea Kings (20-5, 6-1) with 14 points, while senior Kristin McCoy added 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

“Usually we get one of the McCoys playing a good game,” Davis said. “If

we get both of them playing well, boy, we’re a hard team to beat.”

Chris Eyre also stepped up for CdM, ranked No. 6 in CIF Southern Section

Division III-AA, scoring eight of her eight points in the fourth quarter.

With the score tied with three minutes remaining, Kristin McCoy stepped

up her game, scoring four points, grabbing three rebounds and dishing out

three assists.

“It’s her mental toughness that makes her so strong,” Davis said. “No

matter how tough the situation, it’s no biggie to her.”

The elder McCoy’s strong play helped the Sea Kings go on a 6-0 run,

pushing the lead to 47-41 with under two minutes left.

But back came the Trojans. A jumper from Reagan Anders, who finished with

20 points and two free throws by Kristen Yeo cut the lead to two.

After a missed CdM shot, Uni had a chance to tie the game with nine

seconds left, but the Trojans missed two free throws.

Kristin McCoy grabbed the rebound off the second miss and was mugged by a

cast of Uni players. Shaken up but not phased, she calmly sank two free

throws with 4.3 seconds remaining, putting the game out of reach.

“Even if our offense struggles, our defense keeps stepping up for us,”

Davis said. “That’s what kept us in the game when we weren’t scoring.”

The Sea Kings’ defense forced 26 University turnovers, mainly due to

their relentless full-court press.

Uni jumped out to an 11-6 lead after the first quarter before CdM put the

clamps down on the Trojans’ offense.

Uni didn’t score a second-quarter point until a free-throw with under

three minutes remaining. By then, CdM had taken a two-point lead and led

19-16 at the half.

The lead grew to six before Anders stepped up, scoring six straight

points and tying the game.

Jackiie McCoy scored six of her 14 points in the third, enabling the Sea

Kings to lead by as many as six.

An 8-2 run to start the fourth quarter gave the Trojans a 39-37 lead with

under six minutes remaining.

A clutch hoop by Andrea Gruber, a turnover and a basket by Eyre gave the

lead back to CdM before Anders tied the game at 41-41.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Corona del Mar 49, University 45

Corona del Mar 6 13 16 14 - 49

University 11 5 15 14 - 45

Corona del Mar - J. McCoy 14, K. McCoy 10, Eyre 10, Quon 4, Gruber 4,

Hawkins 4, Meservey 2, Kawata 1, Pham 0.

3 pt. goals - None.

Fouled out - None.

University - Anders 20, Wu 7, Atiba 6, Janda 5, von Tunglen 3, Ariazand

2, Yeo 2.

3 pt. goals - Wu 1.

Fouled out - None.