Boys basketball: Back Bay big shots

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - With eight victories in their last nine meetings,

including five straight, it’s fair to say Newport Harbor High has Corona

del Mar’s boys basketball number.

And in Thursday night’s nonleague battle between Back Bay rivals, in

the Sailors’ gym, those Sea King numbers didn’t add up to much.

Coach Larry Hirst’s Tars scored the game’s first nine points and kept

smothering Sea King shooters until it was time to empty the bench. By

that time, Harbor had secured a 59-29 triumph.

CdM, clearly anxious to impress first-year coach Ryan Curry in its

season opener, never really found any flow. The Sea Kings missed their

first four shots, nine of their first 11 and 21 of their first 25 to wind

up shooting 16% before halftime.

It got only marginally better after intermission as CdM, which hadn’t

scored this few points since Newport Harbor (2-0) earned a 50-26 Sea View

League verdict in 1998, some 99 games ago, netted 9 of 46 field-goal

attempts on the night (19.6%). The visitors hit 4 of 27 from three-point

range (14.8%) as Harbor’s defense consistently contested shots (including

four blocks), then swept the glass to head the other way.

“(The Sailors) extended pretty well,” said Curry, who, like Hirst,

acknowledged the Tars benefited from having one game under their belt.

“To beat a team as good as they have, we’d have to shoot better than 50%

and we obviously didn’t come close to that tonight.”

Hirst said the rivalry helped increase his team’s intensity on both

ends of the floor and he was pleased with the progress of his squad

following Tuesday’s 65-52 win over Huntington Beach.

“I thought we were a half step better in everything we did tonight,”

Hirst said. “We rebounded much better and I thought we rotated really,

really well on defense. I hope we can defend like that every night.

“You could tell (CdM players) are still thinking about the new system

out there and with the special group I have, you can get in trouble if

you’re hesitating at all.”

The third-biggest margin in the 61-game history of the series (the

biggest was last year’s 76-33 thumping), could have been worse if not for

some spirited defensive work by the Sea Kings.

“I liked us on defense,” Curry said. “I thought we kept them in check

fairly well.”

Newport senior Tony Melum may have been the exception, posting 20

points and collecting 10 rebounds before sitting out the entire fourth

quarter.

Senior Erik Peterson, who spearheaded the winners on the defensive

end, hit four of his first five shots en route to 12 points. He also

contributed four assists and four rebounds.

Nedim Pajevic, a 6-foot-8 junior, had 12 of his 13 rebounds by

halftime and joined teammates Andre Pinesett and Jamie Diefenbach with

six points apiece.

Diefenbach had seven rebounds to help the Tars earn an eye-popping

60-20 edge on the boards against the much shorter Sea Kings.

CdM junior Brett Matsen came off the bench to produce a team-high

eight points, including a pair of three-pointers, while Kevin Mancillas

and Ryan Inman both added seven points.

Senior Eric Glass and Brandon Sherick-Odom led the visitors with four

rebounds apiece and Curry had postgame praise for both players’ effort.

CdM still leads the series, 36-25.

Newport finished 23 of 55 from the field (41.8%).

NONLEAGUE

Newport Harbor 59, Corona del Mar 29

Score by Quarters

Corona del Mar 5 6 10 8 - 29

Newport Harbor 17 14 15 13 - 59

Corona del Mar - Matsen 8, Mancillas 7, Inman 7, Najar 3, Glass 2,

Seaborn 2, Northridge 0, Wald 0, Welch 0, Sherick-Odom 0, Hildebrandt 0,

3-pt. goals - Matsen 2, Mancillas 1, Najar 1.

Fouled out - Glass.

Technicals - none.

Newport Harbor - Melum 20, Peterson 12, Pajevic 6, Pinesett 6,

Diefenbach 6, Rorden 3, Glassic 3, Melgar 2, Fortier 1, Cameron 0,

Louvier 0, Tully 0, Boyd 0.

3-pt. goals - Melum 1, Rorden 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.