Boys basketball: Eagles never say die

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - It wasn’t the tournament championship, but it was,

perhaps, the biggest victory of the season for the Estancia High boys

basketball team.

The Eagles (4-7) won third place in their own tournament with a,

73-66, come-from-behind victory over Kennedy Saturday night.

The Fighting Irish opened with a 12-0 lead, but Estancia fought back

with a 16-7 run to close out the first quarter as Micah Young, who

finished with a game-high 28 points, led the charge with six points. And,

Eliasar Maldonado (17 points) and George Prado (16) knocked down a

three-pointer each.

“They never lost their composure,” Eagles Coach Chris Sorce said.

“They did a really nice job of responding. This was probably, take away

the first couple minutes of the game, our most complete game of the

season against a quality club.”

Estancia fed off its comeback momentum with a fundamentally sound

second quarter. The Eagles outscored Kennedy, 24-12, with back-door cuts

to the basket, high-percentage shots and making the most out of their

trips to the free throw line.

Overall, Kennedy’s over-agressive defense led to four of its players

fouling out.

Estancia responded by sinking 33 of 42 shots at the line. Meanwhile,

the Fighting Irish connected on 7 of 10 free throws.

“We finished up that game with some high intensity,” said Maldonado,

who was selected for the all-tournament team. “We just played as a team.

Our bench did a great job and helped us out a lot.”

After Young benefited from a patient offense in the third quarter,

Maldonado provided a backbreaking three-pointer in the fourth. Young

scored 11 points in the third, including six straight to open the period.

With four minutes remaining and the Eagles protecting a 59-51 lead,

Maldonado ran down the shot clock and launched a trey with two seconds

left. The shot provided more momentum for Estancia as it went on to make

9 of 14 from the charity stripe down the stretch.

The Eagles also claimed revenge with their comeback victory. Kennedy

defeated Estancia by 12 points for third place in the Fullerton

Tournament earlier in the season.

Estancia’s next test will be at Newport Harbor Friday at 7 p.m.

ESTANCIA TOURNAMENT

Third Place

Estancia 73, Kennedy 66

Kennedy 19 12 10 25 - 66

Estancia 16 24 13 20 - 73

Kennedy - McKnight 24, Reyes 17, Tucker 7, Njoku 6, Quintero 5, Aragon

3, Johnson 2, Branham 2.

3-pt. goals - Reyes 3, Quintero 1, Tucker 1.

Fouled out - McKnight, Quintero, Njoku, Branham.

Technicals - none.

Estancia - Young 28, Maldonado 17, Prado 16, Rodriguez 5, Cachola 5,

Romero 2, Pham 0, Berame 0, Niles 0, D. Valbuena 0, K. Valbuena 0.

3-pt. goals - Maldonado 3, Prado 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.