Boys basketball: Newport handles El Toro

Tony Altobelli

ANAHEIM - Newport Harbor High boys basketball found a couple of

additional offensive weapons and they came up big in Thursday’s 52-43 win

over El Toro in the second round of the Anaheim Convention Center Holiday

Basketball Classic.

With the Chargers’ tall timbers plugging up the middle of the court

and limiting Sailors’ big man Dustin Illingworth to 11 points, Newport

needed help from the outside and it was found with the strong play of

senior Aaron Yarnal, sophomore Greg Perrine and senior Sean Rorden.

Yarnal led all scorers with 17 points, while Rorden added 13 points

and Perrine had 11 points for the Sailors (6-1), winners of five in a

row.

“They were double and sometimes triple-teamming Dustin down low,”

Coach Larry Hirst said. “We knew sooner or later that we were gonna need

some other players besides Dustin and Aaron to step up and tonight we got

it from Greg and Sean.”

With just over three minutes remaining and the game tied at 40,

Newport went on a 12-3 run to ice the game, led by the strong play

Rorden.

Rorden started the game-clinching run with a nice pass to Illingworth,

who scored and was fouled for a three-point play, making it 43-40.

After a three-pointer by Yarnal extended the lead to six with 1:50

left, Rorden made a 15-footer for an eight-point Sailors’ lead. After a

three-pointer by El Toro trimmed the lead to five, Rorden made two clutch

free throws to give Newport a seven-point lead with only 30 seconds

remaining.

“He hit the big shot when we really needed it,” Hirst said of Rorden.

“He also hit a couple of big three’s for us earlier in the game.”

Perrine scored six of the Sailors’ 10 points in the third quarter and

had two three-pointers for the game.

The win puts the Sailors in the tournament semifinals against San

Clemente tonight at 6:20 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

After an even first quarter by both schools, Yarnal found the hot hand

for the Sailors, scoring 12 of his 17 points in the second quarter on 5

of 5 shooting, including two three-pointers.

The Sailors outscored the Chargers, 14-5, in the second quarter and

took a nine-point first-half lead into the lockerroom.

In the third quarter, El Toro (5-3) finally took advantage of its size

and used 6-foot-6, Chase Peterson for seven of the Chargers’ 16

third-quarter points. A 7-0 run cut the Sailors’ lead to 35-32 after

three quarters.

“They know us inside and out,” Hirst said of El Toro. “They zoned us

up real well and with all the times we’ve played each other in the past,

there were no surprises for either team.”

El Toro finally tied the game at 40 with 3:20 remaining, but in the

fourth quarter, Illingworth finally got some opportunities to find the

hoop, scoring five of his 11 points in the final quarter.

“The good players are gonna find a way to get the ball and score and

down the stretch, Dustin did that for us,” Hirst said.

Hirst was pleased with his players not losing their poise down the

stretch after losing an 11-point lead late in the second half.

“We know we’re a team that’s not going to blow out anybody,” Hirst

said. “We just have to stay under control and play our game. If we manage

to do that, we’ll be fine.”

Peterson had 11 points off the bench, while Ashkan Nazeri added 10

points for the Chargers.

ANAHEIM HOLIDAY BASKETBALL CLASSIC

Second round

Newport Harbor 52, El Toro 43

El Toro 11 5 16 11 - 43

Newport Harbor 11 14 10 17 - 52

El Toro - Nazeri 10, Green 6, Parish 5, Martin 3, DeCoite 2, Peterson

11, Kennard 2, Doddridge 4.

3 pt. goals - Nazeri 1, Parish 1.

Fouled out - none.

Newport Harbor - Yarnal 17, Rorden 13, Perrine 11, Illingworth 11,

Reynolds 0, Knutti 0, Cook 0, Spigner 0.

3 pt. goals - Yarnal 3, Rorden 2, Perrine 2.

Fouled out - none.