Boys basketball: Eagles humbled by Villa Park

Richard Dunn

COSTA MESA - Even with great success thus far in the 2001-02

campaign, Villa Park High boys basketball coach Kevin Reynolds was as

surprised as anybody Friday night in the championship semifinals of the

17th annual Estancia Coast Classic against the host Eagles.

“You never expect to win by 60,” said Reynolds, following the

Spartans’ 58-point victory over Estancia, 90-32, the greatest margin of

defeat in school history -- the second time such a feat has happened to a

Newport-Mesa District team in the tournament (after Corona del Mar’s

95-33 loss to Mayfair).

The Eagles (9-5), however, held an 11-10 edge with 2:46 left in the

first quarter. But Villa Park (13-1), ranked No. 5 in Orange County,

outscored the hosts, 10-5, the rest of the period and poured it on in the

second quarter.

The Spartans, led by 6-foot-9 junior center Sean Phaler and 6-8 senior

forward Brice Prather, ran away in the second quarter, outscoring

Estancia, 23-6, for a 43-21 halftime lead.

“Our thing is defense ... and we’re going to get transition baskets,”

said Reynolds, whose team won the Troy Tournament earlier this month and

lost in the championship finals against Capistrano Valley in the Anaheim

Convention Center Tournament last week.

“I think Villa Park, which was ranked No. 1 in Orange County in the

preseason, was a little ticked off losing in the finals of the Anaheim

Convention Center Tournament,” Estancia Coach Chris Sorce said. “I know

(the Spartans) want to be No. 1 in Orange County. They deserve to be No.

1. They played like it tonight.”

Sorce, whose team had a seven-game winning streak snapped, said it

won’t get any easier for the Eagles tonight against Ocean View in a game

for third place at 6:25 p.m. Mayfair defeated Ocean View, 68-62, in the

other semifinal.

“We’re going to play similar competition and we need a better effort

all the way around,” added Sorce, whose team won the Garden Grove

Tournament this month.

“When you get to the championship semifinals of a tournament, you’re

going to see really good teams. We’ll only get better playing these teams

in the long run.”

For the Eagles, it was their lowest offensive output in a game since

they scored 27 points against Irvine in early 1993.

“Nobody on our team is as good as Villa Park’s players,” Sorce said.

“But I thought we did a good job containing Phaler (15 points) and

Prather (12), their two big guys. The one guy who hurt us was (6-5 junior

guard Kyle) Hogan (who scored 22 points). We didn’t quit as a team and

played with a lot of heart.”

Phaler also had seven rebounds and seven blocked shots in less than

three quarters of action, while Prather added six boards and four blocks

in a similar span. Hogan canned 6 of 7 three-point shots and chipped in

with six rebounds.

For the Eagles, no player reached double figures in scoring, but 6-7

junior Joey Lindquist enjoyed a solid floor game with seven rebounds, two

steals and one block.

Lindquist had four rebounds (two offensive) and both steals in the

first period, as the Eagles used back-to-back three-pointers by Jorge

Prado and Jermaine Snell to take a one-point lead with 2:46 to play.

Corey Miller scored on a putback to give Villa Park the lead, then

Hogan swished two three-pointers as the Spartans took an 18-11 advantage.

“We’re really starting to come together in this tournament,” Reynolds

said. “It’s hard to have anything to complain about, because we’ve lost

just one game and won a tournament and been to the finals in another

tournament. But, in this tournament, we’re really putting it all

together.”

ESTANCIA COAST CLASSIC

Semifinals

Score by Quarters

Villa Park 90, Estancia 32

Villa Park 20 23 27 20 - 90

Estancia 15 6 3 8 - 32 Villa Park - Miller 8, Beisner 0, Phaler 15, Prather 12, Hogan 22,

Cotton 0, Maxwell 2, Herrera 2, Hosier 4, Lan Franco 9, Selinsky 5,

Helberg 6, Lanois 5.

3-pt. goals - Hogan 6, Lan Franco 3, Phaler 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.

Estancia - Snell 7, Maldonado 7, Lindquist 4, Prado 5, Bradshaw 5,

Valdes 0, Novak 0, Cachola 2, Andersen 2.

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

Fouled out - Lindquist.

Technicals - none.