Boys basketball: Sailors host Loara

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Entering a school-record sixth straight postseason,

Newport Harbor High has learned a little something about CIF Southern

Section playoff psychology.

So, it was no surprise when senior standout Tony Melum said he and his

teammates were delaying a heartfelt celebration of the program’s first

Sea View League championship since 1990, in order not to avoid the

complacency that might trigger an early exit from the Division II-AA

tournament.

Overconfidence could be as threatening opposition as Loara, which

invades tonight at 7:30 for a first-round clash most suspect the Sailors

will win.

Newport (19-6) has won three straight first-round playoff games and,

with another first-round triumph, could become the fourth Harbor team in

72 varsity seasons to reach the 20-win plateau.

Loara (17-9), an at-large entry from the Empire League, limped to the

finish, losing six of its last seven, including its final four.

Coach Ed Prange’s Saxons, however, are a dangerous opponent, according

to Hirst, because of their ability to create sudden scoring spurts with

defensive pressure.

“They depend a lot on the transition game and, I’m told, they reel off

about 15 points real quickly in just about every game,” Hirst said. “They

don’t do a lot of structured things on offense or defense and they want

to get you into a run-and-gun game.”

Newport typically has more structure, particularly on defense, but

also has shown enough explosiveness to burn teams in transition.

The Sailors are paced by the senior trio of Melum (21.6 points per

game), a 6-foot-6 forward, point guard Greg Perrine (10.2 ppg) and

forward Erik Peterson (9 ppg). Peterson is also the team’s leading

defender.

Nedim Pajevic, a 6-8 junior, (7.6 ppg) and junior guard Chase Cameron

round out the starting five.

Loara is led by 6-1 senior guard Bryce Sheldon (21.5 ppg), followed by

6-0 senior Drew Howard (12.1), 6-2 senior Hassan Cook (8.3) and 6-3

sophomore Dean Delasandro (7.4).

Tonight’s winner advances to meet the Villa Park-Chaparral winner.

Villa Park (24-3), the No. 3 seed, eliminated the Sailors in the Division

I-A quarterfinals last year.