Ocean View suffers through worst-ever defeat

To say that the 1999-2000 season will be one of intense - if not,

embarrassing -- growing pains for the Ocean View High girls basketball

program would be a statement that is right on the money.

Without one returning starter and a new head coach in her first year of

coaching varsity girls basketball, the Seahawks figured to take their

lumps in stride. Unfortunately, what happened Friday at the Fountain

Valley Lady Baron Hoop Challenge, was something the program had never

suffered through before.

Ocean View fell to Irvine, 74-8, in the school’s worst-ever loss on the

court. There were no words between the players afterwards, and a somber

team meeting ended with Coach Adara Newidouski offering words of

encouragement, as well as a few high-fives.

‘What can you tell the girls after a loss like that?’ Newidouski asked.

‘Mistakes are just the name of the game for us so far this season. You

can’t turn the ball over the way we are, and expect to win. We’ve just

had way too many mental breakdowns.’

Ocean View (0-4) looked unorganized from the start Friday, and the game

was never in doubt as Irvine (3-0) opened up a 41-point halftime lead,

47-6.

The taller Vaqueros could have led by much more, but missed several easy

shots from under the basket.

‘It’s a hard game to coach, and an even harder game for the players to

concentrate in when things get so out of hand like that,’ Irvine

assistant coach Joni Easterly-Colbourn said. ‘It was a really ragged game

that we’re just glad is over.’

The eight points, Easterly-Colbourn said, were the fewest given up by a

Vaqueros team, and the 66-point margin of victory was the largest by the

program.

‘We had a goal of holding Ocean View to 15 points, knowing that they

hadn’t scored much in the tournament,’ Easterly-Colbourn said. ‘The girls

did a really good job in that respect.’

Ocean View had struggled to 21 point average in its first two tournament

games in losing to Murrieta Valley (64-27) and Fountain Valley (66-16).

In fact, the Seahawks are averaging more turnovers per game (40) than

points.

‘It’s discouraging to struggle the way we have,’ said Newidouski, who

also said that she had never witnessed such lopsided a score as either a

player or coach prior to Friday’s game. ‘The girls just have to learn

that even though they might get behind by 10 or 15 points in the first

half, the game isn’t over. They’re learning that the hard way.’

Ocean View never recovered after Irvine jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the game’s first three minutes, then increased its advantage to 19-0 before

Seahawk senior guard Kristin Valeski scored on a jumper from the free

throw line.

The Vaqueros, who will play Century tonight for the tournament title,

took a 23-2 first quarter lead, scored the first five points of the

second quarter, and slowly built the lead to 41-points (47-6) at the

break on junior forward Krystle Davis’ three-point shot at the buzzer.

Valeski scored all six of Ocean View points during a first half of misery

that saw the Seahawks hit just 3 of 22 shot attempts and turn the ball

over 18 times.

In Thursday’s loss to Fountain Valley, the Seahawks had 20 turnovers at

the half.

If things looked bad in the first half for Ocean View, they got worse in

the second half.

The Seahawks were shutout in the third quarter, and guard Staci Morita’s

steal and lay in at the 2:48 mark of the period pushed Irvine into a

51-point lead, 57-6. It was Morita’s two free throws two minutes into the

fourth quarter that gave the Vaqueros their first 60-point edge, 66-6.

Ocean View would have gone scoreless in the second half had Valeski not

hit a turnaround jumper from inside the key with 1:04 remaining to make

the final 74-8.

Ocean View will take on Riverside Poly today at 3 p.m. in the

tournament’s fourth-place game.

POOL PLAY SCOREBOARD

Woodbridge 55, Westminster 53

Century 43, Riverside Poly 16

Murrieta Valley 64, Ocean View 27

Irvine 67, Fountain Valley 49

Century 45, Woodbridge 25

Westminster 58, Riverside Poly 23

Fountain Valley 66, Ocean View 16

Irvine 68, Murrieta Valley 64

Irvine 74, Ocean View 8

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

3 p.m. - Ocean View vs. Riverside Poly (seventh-place)

4:30 p.m. - Fifth-place game (TBD)

6 p.m. - Third-place game (TBD)

7:30 p.m. - Irvine vs. Century (championship)