Sea View League : Second-Ranked Newport Harbor Wins

After three trying games at the start of Sea View League play, Newport Harbor High School basketball Coach Jerry DeBusk thought his team might have trouble getting up for Wednesday night’s game against Saddleback. Little trouble there, Newport Harbor (4-0, 13-2) won at home, 82-68.

Now, the problem is how the Sailors (and their coaching staff) will weather 10 more league games.

“Ten more games, I don’t believe it,” DeBusk said. “By then, they’ll have a suite for me at the funny farm.”

DeBusk’s reference to the caliber of play in the highly competitive Sea View League is only mildly overstated. The second-ranked Sailors had a tough game against Corona del Mar and a wild scuffle with Estancia before Wednesday’s game against the 10th-ranked Roadrunners.

“I thought they played better than against Estancia,” DeBusk said. “I thought they would come off that big win and not be able to get up for this. We were afraid of being flat. We talked a lot about that.”

DeBusk needn’t have worried. Although the Sailors had a weak first half shooting (14 of 33), aggressive rebounding and deft ball handling proved to be more than Saddleback’s taller, faster team could handle.

The Roadrunners (3-1, 10-5) made good use of its lanky front line by starting the game with a series of blocked shots. They added the firepower of the Walton brothers, Bryant and Mark, to stay close in the first half.

“We had the shots we wanted in the first half,” DeBusk said. “But they (Saddleback) were very tough inside. They came out blocking six or seven shots. I don’t know why we shot better in the second half, it just happened.”

What happened was the Sailors handled Saddleback’s press well and helped itself with excellent rebounding. Newport Harbor outrebounded Saddleback, 48-24. Much of the credit has to go to Newport’s 6-foot 7-inch, 260-pound Mike Beech--the player with the Charles Barkley physique. Beech and his other beefy teammates, shoved Saddleback players out of position all night.

“We had a great deal of respect for their jumping ability,” DeBusk said. “So rebounding was one thing I really wanted us to get tonight. They can jump, and they are a taller team than we are, but they aren’t big guys like we are.”

The big guys outscored the Roadrunners, 25-16, in the fourth quarter when Newport’s Rob Mase, who had 21 points, and Alan Fraser, who had 17, began to hit their outside shots.

Bryant Walton led all scorers with 23 points and teammate Joe Deal had 20.

SADDLEBACK (68)--Jones 4, B. Walton 23, Peterson 11, M. Walton 2, Deal 20, Cook 6, Butler 2.

NEWPORT HARBOR (82)--Mase 21, McGavran 15, Fraser 17, James 4, Beech 16, Troung 3, Lee 2, Sorensen 4. Newport Harbor 22 14 21 25--82 Saddleback 16 14 22 16--68 In other Sea View action:

Costa Mesa 50, University 49--Matt Judd tipped in a free throw with one second remaining to give the Mustangs the win at University. Judd led Costa Mesa (2-2) with 20 points. University (0-4) was led by Brad Arnold’s 15 points.

COSTA MESA (50)--Pelichowski 12, Judd 20, Kimme 9, Stroich 4, Louden 5.

UNIVERSITY (49)--Paulson 6, Warren 12, Gratton 2, Arnold 15, Winslow 4, Stolzoff 2, Glassen 8.

Corona del Mar 55, Woodbridge 43--Jeff Fryer scored eight of his game-high 22 points for the Sea Kings in the final quarter to break open a close game at Corona del Mar. Rick Snarl added nine points, six coming on free throws in the final minutes. The Sea Kings are 2-2, 10-5.

Mike Murphy led Woodbridge with 10 points, Adam Keefe added 7. The Warriors are 0-4, 2-9.

WOODBRIDGE (43)--Murphy 10, Bryan 4, Lyon 4, Cryer 2, Townsend 4, York 4, Sullivan 6, Keefe 7, Rounaghi 2.

CORONA DEL MAR (55)--Fryer 22, Morris 4, Zimmer 7, Turner 4, Strauss 6, Smirl 9, Beareower 1, Christiansen 2.

Estancia 49, Laguna Beach 44--Eric Van Doren and Scott Clements each scored 13 points as the Eagles rebounded from last week’s loss to Newport Harbor and improved their record to 15-2. Coby Naess paced Laguna Beach with 17 points.