Boys basketball: Sailors escape, 43-30

Barry Faulkner

LAGUNA HILLS - For senior point guard Greg Perrine and his Newport

Harbor High boys basketball teammates, it was better to be lucky than ...

nervous.

The lack of the latter, or at least the ability to suppress any

potentially debilitating nerves, helped Perrine and the Sailors escape

with a spine-tingling 43-40 Sea View League victory Wednesday night at

Laguna Hills.

“We were lucky,” said Perrine, who turned the Tars’ fortune toward the

positive side by drilling a three-pointer from the left wing with one

second left.

The swish, which occurred after six Newport passes, following

back-to-back timeouts with 12 seconds left, gave the visitors their first

lead since a 6-3 edge that disappeared with 1:39 left in the first

quarter.

The victory propelled the Sailors (15-5, 3-0 in league), ranked No. 8

in Orange County and No. 9 in CIF Southern Section Division II-AA, into

Friday night’s first-place league showdown with Woodbridge, which was

idle Wednesday. The Warriors (13-6, 2-0) are ranked No. 6 in the county.

Perrine’s dramatics also ruined a heroic performance by the Hawks

(9-11, 0-2), who utilized tenacious defense, particularly in the lane,

and timely shooting to nearly send the Sailors away disappointed.

“Laguna Hills outplayed us in just about every facet of the game,”

Newport Harbor Coach Larry Hirst said. “When you shoot as poorly as we

did (15 of 51 from the field for 29.4%), you’re lucky to escape with a

win.”

A prolific final quarter by Perrine, a three-year varsity starter, was

the key.

The 6-foot-1 standout, who entered the final quarter without a point,

having missed all six field-goal attempts, was 3 for 3 from the field and

3 for 4 from the foul line in the final eight minutes. He also made two

huge steals, the second of which allowed the Tars to pull within 40-38,

when he made the first of two free throws after being fouled on the play.

“I think that steal may have been a bigger play than his three-pointer

at the end,” Hirst said. “Because if he misses the three, we still go to

overtime. That steal helped give us an opportunity to pull even.”

That opportunity was extended when a Laguna Hills rebounder sailed out

of bounds while attempting to collect Perrine’s missed second free throw.

Newport Harbor junior Nedim Pajevic capped the ensuing possession by

draining a pair of pressure-packed free throws to knot the score with 51

seconds left.

Laguna Hills, typically methodical, worked 31 seconds off the

35-second shot clock with its ensuing possession, which ended when a

29-foot desperation three-pointer kissed off the front of the rim into

the hands of Newport forward Tony Melum with 20 seconds left.

Hirst elected to use two consecutive timeouts to set the stage.

“Without giving away too many secrets, there were a couple guys whose

hands we wanted the ball in that last possession,” Hirst said.

“I passed the ball in the corner to Erik (Peterson) and, luckily, he

caught it, because it was a bad pass,” said Perrine, who missed the first

seven games this season with a torn ACL. “He gave it back to me and time

was running down. I ball faked and everyone went away. When I saw it, it

thought it was going straight. I’ve never made a game-winning shot

before.”

Perrine finished with 10 points, all in the fourth quarter, after

Melum posted eight of his game-high 16 to carry the Tars through the

third period. Melum added 10 rebounds and three steals.

Pajevic collected 11 points, including 4 of 4 from the foul line in

the final quarter, and 10 rebounds, as well as praise from his coach.

“Those were some big free throws by a junior,” said Hirst, who also

credited a defensive spark from sophomore Andre Pinesett.

“Andre came in in the second quarter and made two steals that I really

thought raised the tempo in our whole defensive scheme,” Hirst said.

BOYS

SEA VIEW LEAGUE

Newport Harbor 43, Laguna Hills 40

Score by Quarters

Newport Harbor 6 14 10 13 - 43

Laguna Hills 11 11 10 8 - 40

Newport Harbor - Melum 16, Peterson 4, Diefenbach 2, Perrine 10,

Cameron 0, Pajevic 11, Rorden 0, Pinesett 0.

3-pt. goals - Perrine 1, Pajevic 1, Peterson 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - Coach Hirst 1.

Laguna Hills - Dimick 15, Donat 11, Carter 6, Stelling 4, Stone 4.

3-pt. goals - Dimick 3, Carter 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.