Servite overcomes Seaborn-led Sea Kings

Barry Faulkner

The Servite High boys basketball team had no defensive solution for

Corona del Mar senior guard Pancho Seaborn Monday afternoon.

But, fortunately for the host Friars, they consistently came up

with answers at their offensive end to counteract Seaborn’s 40-point

performance and claim a 73-63 nonleague win.

The 6-foot-3 Seaborn, a three-year varsity starter who had

averaged 22 points his previous three contests and netted 17

three-pointers in his previous four games, was all but unstoppable,

once he got the ball. He made his last six field-goal attempts, hit

eight of his last nine and 12 of his last 14. He finished 14 of 20

from the field (70%), 6 of 10 from three-point range, and a modest 6

of 10 from the foul line. He had 19 points at halftime, en route to

becoming the first Sea King to reach the 40-point plateau since Jeff

Fryer scored 41 in a 1986 CIF Southern Section first-round playoff

win over El Modena, a whopping 18 seasons and 495 games ago.

“What a great effort,” CdM Coach Ryan Curry said of Seaborn’s

outburst, which included increased defensive focus the final two

quarters.

“After he had 19 at halftime, he said, early in the third quarter,

they weren’t leaving him open,” Curry said. “But I told him he needed

to find a way to get open and it was a credit to him, he was able to

do so. Our guys also did a good job of getting him the ball and he

knew what to do with it. But [his scoring] just wasn’t enough.”

Servite Coach Brad Kenney continually asked his zone defenders to

stick with Seaborn on the perimeter, even at the expense of creating

openings for CdM in the paint.

“Our focus was on [Seaborn] and we did our best to try to contain

him,” Kenney said. “He’s a hell of a player.”

The other four CdM starters connected on just 10 of 37 field-goal

tries (27%), while Servite (7-3) had nine of its 11 three-pointers in

the first and fourth periods.

The Friars, who lost to Costa Mesa, 57-55, in the 11th-place game

of the Anaheim Convention Center tournament Saturday, came out

sizzling in the first eight minutes. They drained 6 of 8 three-point

attempts to take a 24-13 lead at the end of one quarter, but went

more than eight minutes before connecting on a seventh.

As Servite cooled off, CdM (5-5) mounted a charge.

The deficit was only 28-25 after an 8-1 Sea King run that included

six Seaborn points. The visitors trailed, 38-34, at intermission.

A Seaborn layup triggered a 6-0 CdM surge to start the third

quarter, giving the Sea Kings a 40-38 lead, their first advantage

since 6-5.

Servite reclaimed the lead on its lone three-pointer of the third

period, with 5:17 remaining in the quarter and entered the fourth

stanza with a 49-44 cushion.

Seaborn started the fourth-quarter scoring with a steal and a

layup, but Servite answered with the first of its four final-period

three balls, all at critical times.

After Seaborn connected from threedom to cut the deficit to 60-56

with 3:39 left, Servite drained back-to-back threes to reestablish

control.

Servite answered Seaborn’s final three ball, with 2:11 remaining,

with another three of its own to push the lead to 71-61.

“When [the Friars] needed an answer, they got it,” said Curry, who

was encouraged by his team’s effort.

“Our job is to play well and get better,” Curry said, “and we’ve

come a long way from some of our games early in the season. I was

pleased with my team, except for free throws [hitting just 6 of 14].

After we got down early, we scrapped and got back into it.”

Seaborn added six rebounds and two assists, while fellow senior

Adam Freede chipped in eight points, five rebounds, four steals and

an assist.

Sophomore Kevin Welch led the Sea Kings with eight rebounds, while

Tyler Lance had a team-high five assists.

Senior Garrett Love paced Servite with 26 points, including five

three-pointers, while Chris Kanne added 15 points (four threes) and

6-7 sophomore Blake Wallace amassed 17 rebounds to go with his 12

points.

CdM returns to action Friday in the first round of the Coast

Classic at Estancia High. The Sea Kings face Norco at 9 a.m.