Boys basketball: Estancia falls from long range

Tony Altobelli

COSTA MESA - If anyone knew where the friendly bounces were on the

Estancia High basketball rims, it’s current Edison Coach Rich Boyce.

Boyce, a former coach for the Eagles saw his Chargers’ squad get happy

and confident with a 79-67 win over the host Eagles before a combatively

festive crowd at the Coast Holiday Classic.

“I’ve seen some high-scoring games in this gym,” a relieved Boyce said

afterward. “I knew that no lead is safe in here. I give Estancia all the

credit in the world. I knew they were going to be fired up to beat me and

my team. It was a very emotional game tonight.”

The Eagles (4-7) were bitten by the long-range bug as the Chargers hit

13 three-pointers, nine in the first half.

“We fell behind early and basically traded baskets with them for the

finals three-plus quarters,” Estancia Coach Chris Sorce said. “Last

night, we won, but I wasn’t happy with the effort. Tonight we lost, but I

couldn’t be happier with how hard our guys played out there. We have

nothing to be ashamed of.”

With the loss, the Eagles will take on Kennedy tonight at 5:50 in the

third-place game.

Senior Eliasar Maldonado led the Eagles with 23 points, while junior

Micah Young overcame early foul trouble to score 17 points, 12 in the

fourth quarter.

“Edison just hit the big shots when it counted the most,” Sorce said.

“I told the guys after the game, a couple of missed threes on their side

and a couple of made layups on our side and it’s a different outcome.”

Beau Roquemore and Mat Gonzales were the long-range specialists for

the Chargers (6-7) winners of three in a row, all at Boyce’s former

stomping ground.

The duo combined for 40 points, including eight three-pointers.

“We pretty much live and die with the trey,” Boyce said. “We have to

be until our football players get up to speed, then we’ll have a better

inside-outside game.”

Edison connected on its first four three-point attempts an opened up a

seven-point early. Estancia cut it to four, but a Roquemore trey at the

buzzer ended the Eagles’ threat.

Estancia tried to cut into the lead, but Edison kept answering the

Eagles’ threats. The back-breaker came when Richard Schwartz drained a

three-pointer from half court at the buzzer to end the second quarter.

After a fairly even third quarter, Edison opened up its biggest lead

of the game on a rare five-point play. A Gonzalez trey, timed perfectly

with an Eagles’ foul away from the play, gave Edison the ball back. The

Chargers took advantage with a basket by Christian Prelle, ending

Estancia’s hopes for a comeback.

Young’s hot shooting helped Estancia get as close as eight, but the

Chargers hit 14 of 19 free-throw attempts down the stretch.

COAST HOLIDAY CLASSIC

Championship semifinals

Edison 79, Estancia 67

Estancia 13 13 14 27 - 67

Edison 20 19 13 27 - 79

Estancia - Maldonado 23, Young 17, Prado 9, D. Valbuena 8, K. Valbuena

8, Cachola 2, Rodriguez, Phan 0, Berame 0, Stoddard 0, Romero 0.

3 pt. goals - Maldonado 3.

Fouled out - K. Valbuena.

Technical fouls - none.

Edison - Roquemore 20, Gonzales 20, Min 17, Schwartz 10, Prelle 7,

McCarter 5.

3 pt. goals - Gonzales 5, Min 3, Roquemore 3, Schwartz 1, McCarter 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technical fouls - Prelle 1.