Boys basketball: CdM beats ice cold Northview

Barry Faulkner

CORONA DEL MAR - The kind thing to say, was that the iron was

unkind.

But, factor in the 12 air balls launched by visiting Northview High in

Friday’s 47-25 loss to Corona del Mar in the second round of the CIF

Southern Section Division III-AA boys basketball playoffs, and it becomes

even more challenging to communicate how badly the Vikings shot, without

being just plain cruel.

After connecting on a three-pointer to break a scoreless tie with 5:06

left in the first quarter, the Valle Vista League’s fourth-place team

(13-15) missed its next 23 field-goal attempts.

The drought extended until 95 seconds into the third quarter, when Benny

Laws hit the first of three straight runners. But Northview missed its

next 10 field-goal attempts and, by the end of the third quarter, was an

astounding 4 for 40 from the field.

The Vikings wound up 8 of 56, a paltry 14.3%, and will likely try to bury

the memory of ever setting foot in the Sea Kings’ storied gym.

CdM (21-6), which advances to Tuesday’s quarterfinal against Notre Dame

of Sherman Oaks (22-6) at a site to be determined by today’s coin flip,

wasn’t exactly at the top of its game, according to Coach Paul Orris.

But the No. 3-seeded Sea Kings had plenty to force Northview into the

initial stages of what figures to be a serious off-season shooting

program.

“I thought our (match-up zone and man-to-man) defense played pretty well

in the first half,” Orris said. “But the second half was ugly. We need to

work on a lot of things and we have two days of practice to do it.”

While Northview went nearly 15 minutes without a field goal, the Sea

Kings drilled five of their seven three-pointers, en route to a 24-5

halftime advantage.

How does a coach pump up his defense after limiting an opponent to a

five-spot at halftime?

“I growled at them a little,” Orris explained. “I didn’t think we were

screening off well and we were letting them run their man offense too

easily.”

The dressing down didn’t exactly work wonders for the hosts, who came out

flat in the second half.

CdM didn’t score until 2:20 remained in the third period and its five

turnovers helped Northview enjoy a 7-0 run to get within a dozen.

But senior point guard Alec Hansen broke the drought with a layup and the

Sea Kings answered with a 7-0 spurt of their own to make it 31-12 with

7:31 left in the game.

From there, it was garbage time, as Orris emptied the bench, to the

delight of the CdM student rooters.

CdM senior Jason Owen matched a varsity career high with four points,

including a three-pointer, and sophomore Ryan Inman, just up from the

junior varsity, got his first varsity field goal on a 16-foot baseline jumper with 45 seconds left.

Senior Kevin Hansen paced the winners with 14 points and 13 rebounds,

while Hanson added 11 points, 11 boards and four assists.

Senior Brooks Morris had 10 points and seven rebounds for the winners,

who shot just better than 35% (17 of 48) in their first game in eight

days.

Northview’s output was the fewest points allowed by the Sea Kings all

season. They’re the fewest against a CdM team in 69 games, dating back to

a 44-22 victory over Pitt Meadows from Canada in the 1997 Coast Christmas

Classic.

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS

CIF DIVISION III-AA Second Round

Corona del Mar 47, Northview 25

Score by Quarters

Northview 3 2 7 13 - 25

Corona del Mar 9 15 5 18 - 47

Northview - Laws 11, Samudio 9, Nuguid 2, Mercado 1, De La Torre 1,

Castro 1.

3-pt. goals - Samudio 2.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - Coach Rice.

Corona del Mar - Hansen 14, Hanson 11, Morris 10, Snell 4, Owen 4,

Hietbrink 2, Inman 2, Templeton 0, Patterson 0, Bottom 0, Najar 0.

3-pt. goals - Hansen 3, Hanson 1, Morris 1, Snell 1, Owen 1, .

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.