Girls basketball: Sea Kings’ league drought ends

Tony Altobelli

LAGUNA BEACH - In Thursday night’s Pacific Coast League opener,

Laguna Beach High’s girls basketball team managed to win the opening tip

of the game.

From there, it was ALL Corona del Mar High as the Sea Kings rolled past

the Artists, 57-22.

The win snaps CdM’s 33-game winless streak in league play. The Sea Kings

knocked off El Toro, 58-42, on Jan. 27 in a Sea View League matchup.

Now in the PCL, Coach Elbert Davis is looking way beyond just one league

win.

“It’s nice to get a league victory, but we have a long way to go,” Davis

said. “We’re playing Estancia Thursday night and we’re gonna have to play

much better in order to win.”

Kristin McCoy scored 13 points to lead a balanced Sea Kings’ attack.

Charlene Quon added nine, while Andrea Gruber and Jackie McCoy chipped in

with eight apiece.

“When we play a team like Laguna Beach, we seem to have a more balanced

offense,” Davis said. “It was nice to see us make that extra pass and to

find the open shooter like we did tonight.”

CdM (10-4, 1-0 in PCL) took charge early against the winless Artists,

jumping out to a 12-4 lead with a suffocating full-court press.

Laguna Beach fell prey to the attack and committed several early

turnovers, leading to easy Sea Kings’ baskets.

Kristin McCoy scored seven of her 13 points in the opening quarter, as

Corona del Mar led 14-6.

“We knew coming in that Laguna Beach was having a tough year, so it was a

little hard getting up for them, especially with Estancia coming up

next,” Davis said. “But you still gotta play the game and we tried to

take it to them early.”

Laguna Beach’s lone offensive weapon, Leslie Schmalzried, led the Artists

with eight points.

In the second quarter, the Sea Kings doubled their lead, outscoring the

Artists, 12-4, in the quarter and led, 26-10 at the half.

Kristin McCoy found Quon and Andrea Gruber for some easy hoops as the duo

scored eight of the Sea Kings’ 12 second-quarter points.

“Kristin didn’t score a bunch of points,” Davis said. “But she did a

great job of passing and getting everyone else involved. She really is an

all-around player.”

Chris Eyre got involved with CdM’s offense, scoring seven third-quarter

points, as CdM increased its lead to 41-17. Laguna Beach managed to score

the final five points of the quarter to trim the lead to 41-19 after

three quarters.

In the fourth, it was Jackie McCoy’s turn to find the hoop, scoring seven

of her eight points in the final eight minutes.

The Sea Kings can take solace with this fact. In 1996, when they won

their last league game, they also made the playoffs.

Despite claiming a league win for the first time in over two years, Davis

still sees plenty of room for improvement heading into Thursday night’s

home showdown with Estancia. Game time is at 7.

“We’re still lacking focus at times,” Davis said. “Our intensity will

also have to improve. If we don’t do these things, Estancia will kick our

butts. We’re gonna have to be ready on both sides of the ball against

them.”