Sailors struggle once again

NEWPORT BEACH — A member off last season’s Newport Harbor High boys’ basketball team entered the gym with less than a minute left before halftime.

Cecil Whiteside, wearing all black, watched the action standing up. He looked at his former team and then the scoreboard.

Newport Harbor and Fountain Valley combined for 31 points in the first half.

The way the Sailors season is spiraling out of control, they sure could’ve used Whiteside on the court.

Newport Harbor dropped its seventh straight game, falling at home, 34-31, Friday night. This was a battle of two winless Sunset League teams.

Fountain Valley Coach Chris Gray expected the game to be in the 40s. He talked to Newport Harbor Coach Bob Torribio before the game, realizing both coaches are in similar situations.

Their teams are struggling, making it an even matchup.

Gray stayed optimistic because one team had to win their first league contest.

“I knew it was going to be a close game,” Gray said. “I’m happy that we came through at the end.”

In the final two minutes, the Sailors (4-15, 0-5 in league) had a chance to tie the game six times. They either turned the ball over, or they misfired, ending any hope of forcing overtime.

Offense has been the Sailors’ problem.

“Inability to score,” Torribio said is the reason why the Sailors are headed to one of their worst seasons in school history. “We can’t break 40. We scored 28 Wednesday [in a 16-point loss against Edison]. We play very hard. You can’t fault their effort.

“We just have a hard time putting the ball in the basket.”

Torribio has stayed composed during the woeful season.

After watching guard Chris Anderson come close to tying the game for Newport Harbor with two three-point attempts in the final 11.9 seconds, a fan approached Torribio.

“You were great with the kids, seriously,” the fan told Torribio. “You smiled the whole time. I love it.”

The losing hasn’t turned Torribio’s life into a mess, even though the Sailors are unlikely to make their 13th straight playoff appearance.

“I told myself when this year began, if I was 25-0, or 0-25, next year I’m going to be sitting in the same spot I was last year,” said Torribio, who’s the interim coach while Larry Hirst is on a sabbatical. “As a coaching staff, we sleep well at night.”

Someone at Friday’s game joked that Hirst picked a good time to leave the program. There isn’t much experience left from last season’s team finishing in second place in league.

Hirst was in the building against the Barons (8-13, 1-4), not next to Whiteside, though.

Whiteside, a 6-foot-3, 207-pound junior, decided against returning to the court due to focusing on the upcoming track and field season as a discus thrower. He placed sixth in the event at the CIF State championships last season.

When asked if Whiteside or senior Michael Helfrich could’ve helped Newport if they had played basketball again after the football season, Torribio’s answer might surprise you.

“They’ve wouldn’t have helped us,” said Torribio of Whiteside and Helfrich, a forward and guard last season. “They’re athletic, but they’re not basketball players. The outcome tonight would’ve been just the same. They’re great defenders. They’re great kids. They play hard, but so do the 14 kids we have right now.”

Those 14 kids will try to end Newport Harbor’s skid tonight.

The Sailors play at Corona del Mar (10-11) in the Battle of the Bay game at 7 p.m.

“They’re good,” said Torribio of the Sea Kings, who have beaten Newport Harbor the past two seasons. “They’ve got three or four guys that can score 30 each. We can’t break 40 and they got two kids who can. It could be a long night [for us].”

Sunset League

Fountain Valley 34, Newport Harbor 31

SCORE BY QUARTERS

FV – Marquez 14, Lee 13, Pham 5, Moss 2.

3-pt. goals – Pham 1, Marquez 1, Lee 1.

NH – Anderson 9, Caldwell 9, Seeber 6, Bagby 4, Rios 2, Davis 1.

3-pt. goals – Anderson 1.

Fouled out – Rios.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].