Sea View League : Saddleback Wins Despite Estancia Rally

After a disappointing 58-55 Sea View League loss to Saddleback High School Wednesday night, members of Estancia’s basketball team will no doubt be faced with the torturous what ifs?

A select few:

-What if Estancia had come out in the first quarter as it did in the third and fourth, with non-stop intensity?

-What if Estancia played its game--shooting from 3-point range--instead of trying to drive around and through the tall Saddleback defenders?

-And what if Estancia had shot better than 17% from the field in the first half?

As it was, Estancia, which trailed, 29-17, at the half, staged a thrilling rally in the second half. After outscoring Saddleback, the county’s top-ranked team, 14-7, in the third quarter, the Eagles closed the gap to 37-35 with just less than 6 minutes remaining in the game.

From that point on, it was a furious finish with Estancia finding its groove and Saddleback fighting to hang on.

Malru Dottin, who finished with a game-high 26 points, proved the savior for Saddleback (15-1 overall and 1-0 in Sea View play). Dottin scored 11 of Saddleback’s 22 fourth-quarter points, several of which came on follow shots and offensive rebounds.

Saddleback extended its lead to 49-41 with 3:45 remaining, but Estancia, keyed by Andy Scholes’ follow shot, came back to within 2 (55-53) with 27 seconds left.

Tony Agnew made both ends of a 1-and-1 situation to seal the victory.

“Nobody said it was going to be easy,” Pat Quinn, Saddleback coach, said. “We fought and did what we had to do to win, and that’s all I can ask of them.

“We were our own enemy, though. We made 21 turnovers, half of which were unforced. We have to get back down to business.”

Neither team was very effective at the start. Estancia missed its first 12 shots before Augustin Heredia made a layup and drew a foul for a three-point play with just 43 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Those were Estancia’s only points of that period though, as Saddleback led, 7-3, after the first quarter.

Were the Eagles--who shot 69% in the second half--a little tight in the early going against the county’s No. 1-ranked team?

“Oh yeah,” Estancia Coach Tim O’Brien said. “We were. We had a nice comeback, we could have a nice pat on the back for that, but for a team that relies on shooting . . . “

Estancia was especially ineffective from 3-point territory. The Eagles, who went into the game shooting 53% from beyond the 3-point line, did not make a 3-pointer.

Heredia led Estancia (13-2, 0-1) with 22 points and Mike Curtis added 15.

Tony Agnew, who was not expected to play because of an ankle sprain suffered in the Orange Holiday tournament, helped Saddleback with 13 points.

In other Sea View League action:

Corona del Mar 46, University 31--Corona del Mar (11-4, 1-0) ran off the first 9 points and was never behind.

The Sea Kings hit 3 3-pointers in the first quarter, 2 by Matt Cwiertnia and 1 from Warren Johnson. University fell to 0-1 and 5-10.

Tustin 70, Newport Harbor 61--Jason Moore scored 18 points to lead Tustin (11-5, 1-0) at Newport Harbor. Cheavly Ly scored 14 points and David Beilstein 13 for the Tillers. Scott Gray scored 16 points for Newport Harbor (11-5, 0-1).