Boys basketball: Warriors take first place

Barry Faulkner

IRVINE - Some Newport Harbor High boys basketball fans showed up

dressed for a barbecue Friday night at Woodbridge High. But it was the

host Warriors who flame broiled the nylon nets during the pivotal stages

of this battle for first place in the Sea View League.

Woodbridge hit its first six third-quarter field-goal attempts to expand

a five-point halftime cushion to a 14-point bulge, then held off a

furious Harbor rally to claim a 65-51 verdict.

The win allows Woodbridge (16-8, 5-1 in league) to move ahead of the

Sailors (16-9, 5-2) in the league standings for the first time all

season.

It also forces Newport to hope for a Woodbridge stumble next week

against either Aliso Niguel or Irvine, if the Tars are to regain a share

of the league crown.

Harbor, ranked No. 9 in Orange County and No. 10 in CIF Southern Section

Division II-AA, plays its league finale Friday at home against Aliso

Niguel.

The victory ended a six-game Harbor winning streak over Woodbridge.

“As long as (Newport Coach Larry Hirst) is in the Sea View League, we’d

better get used to playing games like this,” Woodbridge Coach John

Halagan said. “They’ve beaten us six straight, but tonight it was our

turn.”

A dozen Warriors took turns sharing minutes, working shifts to make the

Sailors earn every bucket.

But for an 81-second span in the fourth quarter, during which Tony Melum

and Dustin Illingworth flushed three straight slam dunks to draw the Tars

within six points, the Warriors guarded the key like a sacred burial

ground.

“We have no superstars, but we are a very deep squad,” Halagan said. “We

had a couple guys pick up two fouls early, so we had to have some guys

step in off the bench. I think I played 13 guys tonight and they all

contributed.”

Hirst also mentioned depth as one of the differences in the game.

“Their bench did a great job,” said Hirst, who utilized a six-man

rotation for all but a few seconds.

With ample fouls to give, the Warriors were aggressive on the defensive

end, running two and three players at every inside Sailor attacker.

Woodbridge blocked six shots and altered a handful of others.

Defense, however, was only part of the story for the winners, who hit 11

of 18 field-goal attempts in the first quarter, then used the

aforementioned shooting brilliance to drain 9 of 13 in the third period.

Harbor was just 7 of 25 from the field at halftime and, even with a 67%

fourth quarter (6 for 9), finished 18 of 48 (37.5%).

Harbor did make 15 of 19 foul shots, while Woodbridge was 3 of 3 from the

line, before netting 4 of 5 in the final 1:12, when Harbor was forced to

foul.

Harbor led, 9-4, midway through the first quarter, before the Warriors

heated up, eventually taking a 30-25 halftime edge.

Sean Rorden’s driving layup pulled Harbor to within three. But Woodbridge

popped for five unanswered field goals and missed its first second-half

shot with 3:12 left in the third.

The Warriors opened the fourth quarter with a bucket to up the advantage

to 53-38, but Melum, a 6-6 sophomore who finished with a team-high 15

points, keyed a 9-0 run to keep things in doubt with 4:42 remaining.

Melum got loose in transition for back-to-back dunks and Illingworth

threw down an offensive rebound to send the Harbor fans, including the

ones in chef’s hats and aprons, to their feet.

Danny Lambert had 20 points for the Warriors and Shane Harris sank three

of his four three-point attempts to add 13. Tashaan Forehan-Kelly had 11,

including a pair of three-pointers.

“If you want to win a league championship, a game like this, at home, is

one you better think about winning,” Halagan said.