Boys basketball: What a play!

Joseph Boo

COSTA MESA - The ending couldn’t have been any more perfect for

Estancia High’s boys basketball team.

With 1.5 seconds left and the game tied, 54-54, Estancia’s Travis

Chandler threw a perfect inbound pass from the left wing to center

Darshaun Garner, who, with one motion, caught and scooped the ball into

the basket to give the Eagles a 56-54 nonleague win over Newport Harbor

Wednesday night.

“That play was by design,” Estancia Coach Rich Boyce said. “We needed a

foul or a basket, and that play was supposed to get one or the other.”

Estancia, 12-8 and ranked No. 10 in CIF Southern Section Division III-A,

nailed the basket. Garner was never touched as he soared to the basket

from the lane, and Chandler’s pass was right on the money.

Before the play, Estancia had the ball with a chance to win with 15

seconds left, but Newport Harbor (14-6, Ranked No. 9 in Division II-A,

and Orange County) had three fouls to give and fouled the Eagles to

prevent a shot. The Sailors also wore down the clock to 1.5 seconds left,

making a winning shot unlikely.

Instead, Chandler-to-Garner made like Montana-to-Taylor for the dramatic

win.

The win was huge for Estancia, who lost four out of five entering the

game against Newport. “It’s so hard on them to lose so many close games,”

Boyce said, “We didn’t want to lose this one. We needed this win.”

The game was a tightly contested affair throughout, with the largest lead

being seven, by Estancia in the fourth. Estancia’s Garner, Jason Simco,

John Cantrell, and Newport’s Aaron Yarnal battled each other in the

heated contest.

Cantrell, going against Yarnal’s tenacious defense, got 17 tough points.

In a brave performance, Simco scored a team-high 18 points, despite a

badly-sprained ankle suffered against Corona del Mar.

“A lot of credit goes to our trainer, Greg Solis,” Boyce said. “Before

the game, Simco could barely walk. But he was ready to play by game

time.”

Simco made two key free throws after getting fouled on a back-door play

with 44 seconds left. But Yarnal nailed a jumper to tie with 15 seconds

on the clock. He scored 16 of Newport’s 28 points in the second half and

had a game-high 27 points.

“Yarnal killed us,” Boyce said. “We couldn’t do anything to stop him.”

Every one of Yarnal’s points were needed because Estancia effectively

shut down the rest of the Sailors. Most shocking was Garner’s work on

Newport center Dustin Illingworth. After scoring eight points in the

first quarter, Illingworth finished with 14.

“Darshaun did a great job keeping Illingworth out of the paint,” Boyce

said.

Garner ended up with eight points and his eight rebounds was the

game-high. Chandler’s last pass was his sixth assist. For the Sailors,

Greg Perrine had eight assists, a game-high.

Nonleague

Newport Beach 56, Estancia 54

Score by Quarters

Newport Harbor 18 11 11 17 - 54 Estancia 15 6 17 15 - 56

Estancia - Simco 18, Cantrell 17, Garner 8, Chandler 6, Rodiguez 5,

Maldonado 0, Jiminez 2.

3-pt. goals - Cantrell 3, Simco 2, Rodriguez 1.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.

Newport Beach - Yarnal 27, Illingworth 14, Perrine 6, Rorden 3, Reynolds

2, Knutti 0, Melum 2, Martin 0.

3-pt. goals - Yarnal 3, Rorden 1.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.