Southern Section Basketball Playoffs : 5-A : Capistrano Valley Slows Pace, Then Runs Off With 84-71 Victory

Capistrano Valley High School won a battle of fast breaks with Buena in the Southern Section 5-A boys’ basketball semifinals Friday night, not by speeding up but by slowing down.

For a while, Capistrano Valley was out of sync trying to keep up with Buena’s hectic running game. Only when the Cougars slowed down a few RPMs and seized control of the pace were they able to play effectively.

Capistrano Valley even managed to run a more efficient fast break in defeating Buena, 84-71, at Moorpark College.

The Cougars (23-4) got an impressive second-half performance by forward Scott McCorkle, who had a game-high 32 points and 12 rebounds. Capistrano Valley also made 13 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter to thwart any chance Buena had of rallying.

Capistrano Valley advances to the 5-A championship game, where it will meet the winner of tonight’s Irvine-Pasadena game. It marks the Cougars’ second consecutive championship appearance. Last season, they fell to Simi Valley in the 4-A final. Buena finished its season 21-5.

For most of the first quarter, it appeared as if Capistrano Valley’s hopes for a title berth would be run over by Buena’s running and gunning.

The Bulldogs made five three-pointers in the first quarter and ran the Cougars’ man-to-man defense silly. Capistrano Valley also looked shaky against Buena’s full-court press, turning the ball over six times in the quarter. Things looked even worse when McCorkle missed his first three shots and point guard Chris Kostoff tossed up a free throw that hit nothing but air.

“The No. 1 thing was that we didn’t panic when they made that run,” Capistrano Valley Coach Mark Thornton said.

Still, Capistrano Valley trailed, 19-8, after yet another three-pointer, this one by reserve David Carpenter.

But the Cougars finally found the right gear and went on a 8-0 run to end the first quarter down 19-16.

When McCorkle scored on a move inside with 4:11 left in the half, Capistrano Valley took the lead for the first time and never relinquished it. The Cougars maintained a two- to five-point lead until late in the game when Buena was forced to foul in order to get the ball back.

But Capistrano Valley made its free throws down the stretch and suddenly Buena, which appeared worn out by its own early pace, began missing three-pointers.

Guard Jeff Oliver, who led Buena with 17 points including five three-pointers, went scoreless in the fourth quarter as Capistrano Valley pulled away.

McCorkle had 12 in the fourth quarter, including a run of six in a row to start the period. He finished off the scoring with a two-handed monster dunk in the final seconds that set off a celebration among the Capistrano Valley fans.

“I guess we were a little lax (early in the game),” McCorkle said. “We didn’t come out as strong as we should have. We played their game with all that running.”

Kostoff bounced back from his air ball at the free throw line to add 21 points, including three three-pointers. Nick Kost, a reserve guard, played a steady game and added 11 for the Cougars.