Sailors fall in final minutes

Patrick Laverty

The Newport Harbor High boys basketball team did almost everything

right Friday against Sea View League favorite Woodbridge, except

score more points than the Warriors.

The Sailors put themselves in excellent position to pull off the

upset, but didn’t score over the final 3:34 and Woodbridge turned a

tied score into a 51-44 victory to remain undefeated and in sole

possession of first place.

“Defensively, I thought we did what we wanted to do,” Harbor Coach

Larry Hirst said. “Offensively, we did a good job of getting good

shots. And we outrebounded them. Usually, those combinations are a

formula for success. I just think their size finally got to us.”

Woodbridge (16-6, 5-0 in league), winner of eight in a row and 12

of its last 13, has plenty of size. David Burgess is a 6-foot-10

center who has committed to BYU. Jon Winder is a lanky 6-8 wing

player. Kyle Farrell stands 6-5, but plays larger.

The Sailors (12-8, 3-2), who lost 6-8 center Jamie Diefenbach for

the season to a knee injury, simply couldn’t match up in terms of

height. But for 3 1/2 quarters, height didn’t matter.

The Sailors’ largest deficit throughout that time was five points,

early in the first quarter and again midway through the third. They

led, 14-13, after one quarter and were tied, 23-23, at halftime.

Every time Woodbridge attempted to pull away, Newport Harbor had

an answer.

A putback by Chad MacBeth, who had a strong game inside with six

points and three rebounds, on the Sailors’ first possession of the

fourth quarter knotted the score at 38.

Trailing by six points midway through the fourth quarter, Brett

Perrine and Rafael Mouradyan hit back-to-back three-pointers, tying

the score, 44-44, with 3:34 left.

But it was back-to-back turnovers by the Sailors that allowed the

Warriors to escape with a win. The first of those turnovers led to a

layin by Trevor Weiss. On the next possession, Farrell scored a

putback bucket after a Winder miss, giving Woodbridge a 49-44 lead

with 1:10 remaining. The Warriors went on to tack on a pair of free

throws for the final margin.

“Against what everybody is calling the most improved team from the

beginning of the season until now, we’re very happy with the way our

kids played,” Hirst said. “I think we gave ourselves a chance to win

the game, which is all you can ask.”

Hirst credited assistant coach Bryan Cottriel with the defensive

game plan that limited Burgess to 19 points and eight rebounds. The

Sailors played a tight two-three zone, often collapsing three players

around Burgess, who entered the game averaging 18.5 points and 11.1

rebounds.

“We thought we had a chance if we could keep him under 20,” Hirst

said.

Even in the zone, the Sailors did a good job of finding a man and

boxing out.

Despite the height disadvantage, the Sailors finished with a 35-28

edge in rebounding, led by 6-3 junior Taylor Young, who had 14 points

and 12 boards.

But Young missed time due to foul trouble in the second half. He

picked up a pair of fouls within the first two minutes of the third

quarter forcing him to the bench.

The backbreaker was his fourth foul, called with less than 30

seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and MacBeth at the scorer’s

table, waiting to check in for him.

Despite the absence of their leading scorer and rebounder, the

Sailors continued to stay with Woodbridge point-for-point.

Mouradyan finished with 10 points and five rebounds and Perrine

added nine points and five rebounds.

*--*

Sea View League

Woodbridge 51, Newport Harbor 44

Score by Quarters

Woodbridge 13 10 15 13 -- 51

Harbor 14 9 13 8 -- 44

Woodbridge -- Farrell 6, Weiss 4, Winder 10,

Dietrich 7, Burgess 19, Armstrong 0, Gill 0,

Gillotti 3, Swanson 2. 3-pt. goals --

Gillotti 1, Winder 1. Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None. Harbor -- Mouradyan 10,

Perrine 9, Heenan 5, Young 14, MacBeth 6,

Slater 0, Orth 0. 3-pt. goals -- Mouradyan 2,

Perrine 1, Heenan 1, Young 1. Fouled out -- Young. Technicals -- None.

*--*