Back Bay crown goes to Sailors

Patrick Laverty

When the high school basketball season winds down and Newport Harbor

and Corona del Mar get ready for the playoffs, Friday night’s clash

of Back Bay rivals will mean little.

It’s not a league game and it’s only the first week of the season.

But that lack of meaning wasn’t apparent in either the players or

the fans for what turned out to be a fantastic rivalry game.

Newport Harbor just barely eclipsed the visiting Sea Kings, 59-56,

scoring 19 points in the fourth quarter of a seesaw battle in which

they were down by three at halftime.

“The thing I liked about this game first off, was the crowd was so

into it,” Sailors Coach Larry Hirst said. “Playing against CdM, their

seniors and our seniors are so competitive. There’s nothing like a

rivalry game. It brings out the best in everybody.”

Harbor’s best was just a little bit better, particularly over the

final 2:20 of the game after Sea Kings junior Brett Hirata had tied

the score, 51-51, with a three-pointer from the right corner.

Taylor Young returned the lead to the Sailors (2-0) with a putback

bucket after a series of offensive rebounds, which was a Harbor

strength all night.

After Adam Freede connected on one of two free throws for the Sea

Kings (0-1) to cut the lead to 53-52 with 1:52 remaining, Harbor

6-foot-8 center Jamie Diefenbach hit a pretty turnaround jumper in

the lane, putting the Sailors up by three.

Again CdM converted one of two free throws -- the Sea Kings were

19 of 30 from the line in the game, something Coach Ryan Curry wants

to see more consistency from -- cutting the lead to 55-53 with 1:08

remaining.

After a turnover by the Sailors, CdM came up with a loose ball and

scored what seemed to be the game-tying basket, but a double dribble

violation was called instead.

“We battled,” Curry said. “We put ourselves in a position to win.

That’s all you can ask for. It was 55-53, we got the steal and we

thought we hit the game-tying bucket.”

Newport Harbor senior Ricky Green made two free throws after the

double dribble violation. A steal and layup by junior Rafael

Mouradyan with 10 seconds remaining sealed the Sailors victory.

“It was a great high school basketball game,” Curry said. “We

would have liked to win, but like I told the kids, you want to play

well because if you play well you’re going to get the victories in

the long run. We played well, but we’re not in to moral victories.”

There was nothing moral about the Sea Kings play in the first half

as they built a 27-24 lead at the break despite giving up size to

almost ever Harbor player on the court.

Harbor’s size advantage helped them grab 15 offensive rebounds in

the first half, but the Sea Kings were still able to score 18 points

in the paint, most of them in transition.

In the half-court set, Freede showed a knack for driving into the

lane and led CdM with 18 points and seven rebounds. Pancho Seaborn

added 15 points.

Harbor never trailed by more than four points and came back in the

third quarter to take a 38-37 lead on a putback by Diefenbach, who

scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.

From there, it was a back-and-forth contest, that seemed to turn

when Dennis Heenan hit a three-pointer from the left corner on a set

play coming out of a Sailors timeout.

“We were trying to use our big guys as a decoy,” Hirst said. “We

had both our shooters on either side, hoping they would all crash in

against Jamie. Luckily, we got it to the guy who made it.”

The three-pointer gave Harbor a 49-46 lead with 2:58 and they

never again trailed in the game.

Heenan finished with nine points, while Green added 11 points and

nine rebounds. Taylor Young came off the bench to chip in with eight

points and 10 rebounds.

*--*

Nonleague

Newport Harbor 59, Corona del Mar 56

Score by Quarters

CdM 14 13 12 17 -- 56

Harbor 13 11 16 19 -- 59

CdM -- Northridge 4, Wantabe 0, R. Lance 2,

Freede 18, Seaborn 15, K. Welch 5, Hirata

11,T. Lance 1, Kabaklian 0. 3-pt. goals --

Freede 1, Hirata 3. Fouled out -- Northridge.

Technicals -- None. NH -- Mouradyan 8, Hunter

0, Green 11, Perrine 3, Slater 0, Heenan 9,

Young 8, Orth 2, MacBeth 0, Diefenbach 16.

3-pt. goals -- Green 1, Perrine 1, Heenan 1.

Fouled out -- None. Technicals -- None.

*--*