Boys basketball: Sailors breeze past Calabasas

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - After a slow start, the Newport Harbor High boys

basketball team turned up the intensity level and turned out the lights

on Calabasas, 83-41, in pool-play action of the Bill Reynolds Classic

Thursday night.

Leading, 19-12, the Sailors (4-0) turned on the jets and scored 23 of

the game’s next 24 points.

Newport led by as as many as 43 points before Calabasas (1-4) found

some fourth-quarter offense.

Tony Melum scored all of his team-high 21 points in the second and

third quarters. Greg Perrine chipped in with 17 points and Aaron Yarnal

added 15 points.

“If we had another point guard that could run the offense as well as

Greg, I’d probably move him to the other guard position,” Newport Coach

Larry Hirst said of Perrine. “He can score and when he’s got a hot hand

going, look out.”

Newport’s defense, with a little help from some Coyote turnovers and

cold shooting, held Calabasas to only 19 points in three quarters.

“They’re a very young team and tonight’s score doesn’t reflect how

much this team has improved since we saw them in the summer,” Hirst said.

“They had trouble hitting shots, but it wasn’t like we were shooting the

lights out early either. After a couple of heart-to-heart discussions, we

turned up our level of play.”

Newport will play tonight at home beginning at 6:45 p.m. against

Rancho Verde.BILL REYNOLDS CLASSIC

Pool play

Newport Harbor 83, Calabasas 41

Newport Harbor 16 17 28 22 - 83

Calabasas 8 4 7 22 - 41

Newport Harbor - Melum 21, Perrine 17, Yarnal 15, Cameron 5, Spigner

5, Young 10, Pajevic 2, Hill 2, Diefenbach 6, Peterson 0.

3 pt. goals - Perrine 3, Melum 2, Cameron 1, Young 1, Yarnal 1.

Fouled out - None.

Calabasas - Fenchel 15, Holm 10, S. Saunders 9, McDermott 2, J.

Saunders 2, Justman 1, Shirali 2.

3 pt. goals - Fenchel 1, Holm 1.

Fouled out - Malatesta.