CdM edged by Katella

Tony Altobelli

GARDEN GROVE - Some people might look at the recent string of

injuries and recent wide margin losses by the Corona del Mar High girls

basketball and take a moral victory out of Wednesday’s 39-36 pool-play

loss to Katella at the Cavalier Classic, held at Santiago High.

CdM Coach Elbert Davis is not one of those people, however.

“Every team goes through injuries and tough stretches of the season,”

Davis said. “I expect a lot from my team and I expect them to rise above

the setbacks. We’ve still got a long way to go. This was a game we should

have won.”

The Sea Kings (3-7) led for most of the first half, but a strong third

quarter by the Knights (6-4) turned the tides to Katella’s favor.

“We’re still making way too many mental mistakes out there and it’s

killing us,” Davis said. “Our veteran players are still making mistakes

that veteran players just can’t make.”

The one bright spot for CdM came from guard Colleen Marks. The

5-foot-3 freshman led the Sea Kings (3-7) with a career-high 12 points.

“Watching her play well was my highlight of the night,” Davis said.

“Colleen has a ton of quickness and she’s only going to keep getting

better and better. She just needs some more confidence and experience.”

Sophomore Jackie McCoy, still trying to recover from an ankle injury,

showed signs of last year’s solid play with eight points, six in the

final quarter.

“It’s nice to have Jackie back and to see her not quite as tentative

on that ankle,” Davis said. “We’re going to need more from Jackie out

there on the offensive side of the ball.”

Despite the return of the younger McCoy, the Sea Kings are still

without junior forward Carrie Hawkins (broken wrist) and senior forward

Kristin McCoy (believed to be a bruised kidney). Both are out

indefinitely.

Trailing by four with under a minute remaining, McCoy used a nice spin

move down low to score and cut the lead to two.

After a Katella turnover, McCoy hit a free throw with 27.7 seconds

left to trim CdM’s deficit to only one.

Following a missed CdM free throw, a defensive breakdown gave the

Knights a 3-on-0 break to the basket. Lorena Huerta scored two of her

game-high 17 points on a layup with 20 seconds left, giving the Knights a

three-point lead.

The Sea Kings tried for a game-tying shot, but a turnover gave the

ball back to the Knights with three seconds remaining.

McCoy stole the long inbound pass but her desperation three-pointer

from 27 feet out fell short.

“When we get into league play, we better have our mistakes cut way

down,” Davis said. “Otherwise, it won’t be pretty.”

The Sea Kings continue pool-play action at the Santiago Tournament

tonight at 8 p.m. against host Santiago.

CAVALIER CLASSIC

Pool play

Katella 39, Corona del Mar 36

Katella 6 9 12 12 - 39

Corona del Mar 8 9 6 13 - 36

Katella - Huerta 17, Jefferson 8, Stafford 4, Stinson 4, Barr 4, Mango

2.

3 pt. goals - Huerta 1.

Fouled out - none.

Corona del Mar - Marks 12, J. McCoy 8, Meservey 4, Snell 4, Kawata 3,

Gruber 3, Pham 2.

3 pt. goals - Kawata 1.

Fouled out - none.