Boys basketball: Hirst aims to give Tars a clue

Barry Faulkner

CERRITOS - Mickey Spillane would have appreciated the approach

Newport Harbor High boys basketball coach Larry Hirst takes to the CIF

Southern Section Division I-A playoffs.

Moments after learning his Sailors (19-6) would host Santa Fe 15-9) in

Friday’s night’s 7:30 first-round game, the sixth-year head man was eager

to begin investigating the circumstances surrounding his team’s fifth

straight postseason appearance.

“The fun part about the playoffs is finding out as much as you can

about your opponent,” Hirst said with a grin. “Now comes the research of

who played who and whatever else you can dig up. Sometimes, it’s not

always the team with the best players that wins, but the team that does

the most background research.”

Hirst spent much of Sunday evening patrolling the Internet, trying to

uncover any details that might help his Sea View League runners-up become

more familiar with the Chiefs, whose 7-3 record in the Del Rio League

earned them a tie for second with La Serna, two games behind league

champion California.

“You can get names and numbers by looking through newspapers in their

area,” said Hirst, who quickly noted, that was just the half of it.

“Once you have the stats, you need to find a videotape of the team

you’re playing, so you can put the names to the faces and see just

exactly what kind of players they have and what they like to do.”

What the Sailors would like to do is advance past the first round for

the third straight year.

Newport, which in the 65 seasons prior to Hirst’s arrival had gone

9-18 in CIF playoff contests, has won three straight first-round games

only once in school history (1990-93 under Coach Bob Serven).

Initial reports on Santa Fe indicate Coach Mike Geren’s squad does not

enjoy meeting Orange County competition. The Chiefs’ only game against a

county foe this season resulted in a 63-30 loss to Fullerton, the

third-place team from the Freeway League.

Senior John Temidara (14.2 points per game), junior Duke Rivera (11.9)

and Robert Ruiz (10.6) are the Chiefs’ top offensive threats. Temidara is

6-foot-3 while the other two are 6-0.

Newport, on the other hand, has also been paced offensively by a

threesome: junior Tony Melum (18.1 ppg), senior Aaron Yarnal (15.5) and

junior point guard Greg Perrine (9.0).

Further, Hirst believes a 56-53 win at Aliso Niguel to end the regular

season Friday, will help put the Sailors in a good frame of mind for the

postseason.

“I think we’re where we need to be,” said Hirst, whose squad finished

5-3 in league after going 14-3 in preleague competition.

“It’s tough to say we’re playing our best basketball when we lost to

Woodbridge (73-55, at home Feb. 2), but Woodbridge (21-4) is the No.

4-seeded team in our division.”

The four days of practice that lead to Friday’s clash also give the

Sailors time to recover from illness. Hirst said Perrine, as well as

junior starter Erik Peterson, were both extremely sick last week.

Should the Sailors defeat Santa Fe, their Feb. 20 second-round foe

would likely be San Andreas League co-champion Pacific (18-6).

Mater Dei (24-2) is the division’s top seed, followed by No. 2

Centennial of Corona (24-2), No. 3 Villa Park (21-4) and the

aforementioned Woodbridge, which went 8-0 to repeat as Sea View League

champion.