Boys basketball: King tops Tars, 64-58

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - Once the championship game got rolling Saturday

night in the Bill Reynolds Classic hosted by Newport Harbor High, the ups

and downs never ended in a power struggle between two talented teams.

But, down the stretch, visiting Riverside Martin Luther King had more

fuel in the tank and fewer starters sitting on the bench as the Wolves

defeated Coach Larry Hirst’s Sailors, 64-58, in a boys basketball

nail-biter.

After trailing most of the game, the Sailors (5-2) rallied and claimed

their first lead in the fourth quarter.

But King (4-0) forced several Newport turnovers in the closing minutes

and reclaimed the advantage, outscoring the Tars, 14-0, in a two-minute

period, until Newport’s Glassic sank two free throws with 0:55 left in

the game to stop the bleeding.

Down by as many as 12 points early in the second quarter, Newport

Harbor chipped away and finally tied the game, 45-45, with 5:40 remaining

in the fourth quarter on all-tournament choice Tony Melum’s steal and

subsequent layup.

Melum then scored on a lob pass from long distance by Erik Peterson to

give Harbor its first lead, 47-45, with 4:59 to play. Both baskets were

part of a 14-0 scoring run for Newport, which took a 51-45 lead with 3:05

left.

King, however, led by tournament MVP Leon Rosborough (19 points, six

steals, four rebounds and two blocked shots), came back from seemingly

the depths of defeat to take a 59-51 edge.

“I give (the Wolves) credit,” Hirst said. “They did a great job with

their press. It was a good championship game with two constrasting

styles. One team (King) wanted to race up and down the court and another

team wanted structure. For 14 minutes, structure won out, but for 18

minutes their style won out ...

“I think it was just one of those things where all of our effort and

concentration, which got us our comeback, might have taken it out of us.

I wish it was a shorter game ... I think we just ran out of gas.”

King’s bus arrived at about the scheduled tipoff time (7:30 p.m.), so

the game started about 30 minutes late. The Wolves, however, blitzed

Newport Harbor in the first quarter, 19-10, and after Rosborough’s

three-pointer to begin the second, they enjoyed their biggest lead of the

contest, 22-10.

Peterson grabbed an offensive rebound and canned a three-pointer on

the same possession to cut King’s lead to 23-19 with 4:03 to play in the

first half, but the Sailors would never get closer than four points until

the second half.

Newport Harbor pulled to within 38-35, its smallest deficit since the

game’s opening seconds, after Melum steal and subsequetn slam dunk. But

Melum was whistled for technical foul (hanging on the rim), while trying

to inspire his team.

King built its lead to 43-35, but Harbor came back strong early in the

fourth quarter, when Melum’s prayer was answered on a fallaway shot near

the baseline, igniting the Tars’ 14-0 run.

BILL REYNOLDS CLASSIC

Championship

King 64, Newport Harbor 58

Score by Quarters

King 19 13 11 21 - 64 Newport Harbor 10 16 9 23 - 58 King - Lea 22, Rosborough 19, Hilt 2, Thomas 8, Goodman 8, Simms 2,

Harris 3.

3-pt. goals - Rosborough 3, Thomas 1, Goodman 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.

Newport - Cameron 0, Peterson 15, Pajevic 8, Pinesett 0, Melum 29,

Diefenbach 1, Melgar 0, Rorden 3, Glassic 2.

3-pt. goals - Peterson 1.

Fouled out - Pinesett, Diefenbach.

Technicals - Melum.