Sailors stay hot in league

NEWPORT BEACH — The Marina High boys’ basketball team was determined not to let Kyle Caldwell drop 47 points again.

Caldwell was double-teamed, at times triple-teamed whenever he would touch the ball Thursday night. It would be tough for the Sailors’ 6-foot-9 senior center to break his own Newport Harbor single-game scoring record, which he set when the Sailors last played the Vikings on Jan. 18.

“Forty-seven, that’s a big chunk,” senior forward Max Volz said. “We knew they were going to focus on him.”

No worries from Caldwell, though. Volz had his back.

Volz scored a season-high 20 points to help the Sailors to a 77-57 win in their Sunset League finale. Newport Harbor, which won its last six league games to close out the regular season, ends up all alone in second place in league.

The Sailors (17-9, 7-3 in league) were hoping for a share of first, but Los Alamitos beat Esperanza, 60-40, on Thursday. The Griffins (8-2 in league) win it outright.

Caldwell, meanwhile, still got his against Marina (13-11, 2-8). He finished with 23 points and 17 rebounds, despite not even taking a shot attempt in the first quarter.

“You’ve got to applaud him for his patience,” Newport Harbor Coach Larry Hirst said. “At any given time there’s three guys on him, and at least two of them are fouling him.”

But it was Volz who scored his team’s first eight points of the game. Newport Harbor led for much of the first quarter until Marina sophomore Brendan Holmes made a long three-pointer at the buzzer for a 19-17 lead.

The Sailors, unfazed, opened the second quarter on a 21-2 spurt to blow the game open.

When they weren’t scoring transition lay-ups, they were earning their way at the free-throw line, where Newport Harbor went 19 for 28 in the first half by way of 18 Marina personal fouls.

“It was staying patient,” Caldwell said. “If we make a couple of passes, they don’t want to play defense for too long. They just want to get going and get their three-pointers up, so we just needed to take our time, find the open guy and get easy baskets.”

Newport Harbor had opened up a 43-28 lead by halftime, when Taylor Friend scored on fellow senior Travis Kuhns’ assist with seconds left before intermission.

But Marina kept battling. The team known for shooting tons of three-pointers and substituting five players at a time did just that. “Squad A” and “squad B” the Newport Harbor announcer called the lines, similar to hockey lines.

The Vikings would never get closer than six points in the second half, although Hirst was still worried.

“When you’re playing Marina, you have to be patient and you just have to weather their runs,” Hirst said. “... I mean, with two minutes to go and up 18, we’re still nervous. That’s just not right.”

Newport Harbor, however, wouldn’t be denied. The Sailors will find out their playoff schedule when the CIF Southern Section Division I-A brackets are released on Sunday afternoon.

Sunset League

Newport Harbor 77, Marina 57

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Mar – Douglas 14, Holmes 11, G. James 8, T. James 8, Lewis 6, Roberts 5, Moss 3, Irwin 2.

3-pt. goals – Holmes 3, Lewis 2, T. James 1, G. James 1, Moss 1, Roberts 1.

Fouled out – None.

NH – Caldwell 22, Volz 21, Whiteside 11, Helfrich 8, Galey 8, Friend 4, Hapke 2, Kuhns 1.

3-pt. goals – None.

Fouled out – None.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at [email protected].