Prep column: Locals shoot blanks

Barry Faulkner

ABC’s Wide World of Sports is still “spanning the globe to bring

you the constant variety of sport.” But Monday afternoon, all it took was

a drive to Mission Viejo High to see something I’d never witnessed

before, and probably won’t again.

I went to see a girls basketball game between Estancia High and

Newport Harbor and a soccer game broke out.

“That’s right Eagle-Sailor fans,” I could hear some mock announcer

proclaiming after a scoreless first quarter, “that first period was

sponsored by Krispy Kreme” -- doughnuts all around.

I’ve heard of zero tolerance, but this was, well, sorry girls, I

couldn’t help laughing out loud.

All told, there were 27 combined field-goal attempts without a make.

No free throws were attempted. Hey, why foul when all you have to do is

wait for the rebound?

Estancia, which played the first period without three starters who

were being disciplined for missing practice, went on to make 15 of 44

field-goal attempts. Newport sank just 5 of 40. If it were a game of

H-O-R-S-E, I might still be keeping score.

But, seriously, I have covered far worse basketball teams and players

than those in uniform Monday. First-year Newport Harbor Coach Jen

Thompson is clearly giving her players solid instruction and structure.

Newport fans should hope she stays around for as long as she has said she

will.

And Estancia, under the direction of veteran coach Paul Kirby, is

still a team that can contend for the Pacific Coast League crown.

Further, neither effort nor floor burns were ever lacking from players

on either team.

These very factors, however, only added to the unlikelihood of an

eight-minute double shutout.

I’ve seen teams, including boys teams, fail to make a field goal in a

quarter before. I’ve also seen some scoreless quarters. But both are

usually products of one-sided confrontations in which one team fattens

its stats while its victim struggles to compile those of its own.

A gentlemen officiating the game, who appeared to be around retirement

age, told one onlooker, “I’ve been doing this for a lot of years and I’ve

never seen a shutout by both teams in the first quarter.”

Yet another factor adding to the surprising Newport futility was the

fact that the Sailors were coming off a 63-14 nonleague victory that

ended a 19-game losing streak.

The triumph, Friday over Centennial High of Compton, might never have

taken place if not for some alert Web surfing by Thompson.

Thompson said she was scanning a Web site last week and discovered a

posting from the Centennial coach looking to add some games to his

schedule.

Thompson made contact and quickly arranged to play the Apaches only

days later.

“He said he’d be happy to come to our place to play,” Thompson said of

Centennial Coach Anthony League.

Thompson, as well as Kirby, believe they should have much better teams

by Christmas, since the Sailors are scheduled to play Wednesday,

Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the Eagles will play a game every day

this week.

The Newport Harbor boys basketball team continues a busy preseason

when it opens the Anaheim Convention Holiday Basketball Classic Wednesday

at 3 p.m. against Kennedy.

However, the Sailors (7-3), who could still be giddy over the early

return of senior point guard Greg Perrine just a little more than four

months after tearing his ACL, face a rough road in the event.

Expected to get past Kennedy, they’d likely face El Toro in the

quarterfinals, with Villa Park a potential semifinal foe. Should they get

past all that, they could meet a Mission Viejo team that won its first

six games, or a Los Alamitos squad that has already defeated the Sailors.

The title game is scheduled Saturday at 8 p.m.

Also on tap this week is the Back Bay girls water polo showdown

between Corona del Mar and host Newport Harbor, Friday at 3 p.m.

Both teams will enter the contest with 4-0 records.

First-year CdM Coach Aaron Chaney said though new to the rivalry, he

expects a heated battle. But this early in the season, he’s unwilling to

place too much importance on beating the Sailors.

“It should be a great game,” Chaney said. “But, in terms of the whole

scheme of things, it’s only a nice stepping stone toward the direction

we’d like to head.”

Chaney, who coached boys water polo for 19 years at Hawaii’s Punahou

High, said he will not be coaching the CdM boys next fall, due to

potential conflicts with his heavy officiating schedule.