Boys basketball: Sailors overrun Saxons

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Visiting Loara High, which came in hoping for a

run-and-gun contest, simply ran out of gas against Newport Harbor Friday

night.

It was the Sailors who raced to a 79-68 victory in the first round of

the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA boys basketball playoffs.

Newport Harbor senior Tony Melum, a returning All-CIF performer in his

third varsity season, scored a career playoff-high 33 points to lead the

winners. The 6-foot-6 forward also added eight rebounds, seven assists

and two blocks in the fast-paced affair. He hit 15 of 20 field-goal

attempts, including eight layups, most coming in transition, and three

putbacks.

Newport senior point guard Greg Perrine chipped in 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds, while 6-8 junior Nedim Pajevic collected 14

points and 15 rebounds to pace the Sailors (20-6), who reached the 20-win

plateau for only the fourth time in the program’s 72 varsity seasons.

The Sea View League champions advance to Tuesday’s second round

against No. 3-seeded Villa Park (25-3), which eliminated Chaparral

Friday. The host will be determined today by a coin flip.

The Spartans eliminated the Sailors in last year’s Division I-A

quarterfinals with a 74-61 win at Villa Park.

There was, however, no looking past Loara (17-10) for the Tars, who

trailed only once, 4-2, and made several scoring spurts to earn their

fourth straight first-round win.

After the Saxons earned their lone lead, Harbor scored nine straight

points, surrendered a field goal, then reeled off eight more in a row to

take a 19-6 edge.

The two teams then traded spurts the rest of the half, as the Sailors

took a 35-30 edge into the break.

Newport shot better than 55% in the first two quarters (16 of 29) and

outrebounded the visitors, 19-8. But, Loara did not commit a

second-quarter turnover and had just four, to the Sailors’ nine, to

remain within striking distance at the break.

Harbor Coach Larry Hirst said the Sailors’ defensive pressure finally

began taking its toll in the third quarter, when Loara missed 13 of its

16 field-goal attempts.

With senior Erik Peterson, junior Chase Cameron and Perrine applying

perimeter pressure, and Pajevic, Melum and 6-8 sophomore Jamie Diefenbach

combining for all but one of the Tars’ eight blocked shots inside, the

hosts pulled away.

“I think our defensive pressure finally wore them down,” Hirst said.

“They have a good ballclub and they played extremely hard. But, I think

they had an awful lot of shots that came up short in the second half.”

Loara shot just 35.3% after intermission (12 of 34), while Harbor made

17 of 30 second-half field-goal attempts (nearly 57%) to finish at nearly

56% for the game.

Harbor’s shooting percentage was aided by selfless passing, as the

hosts flowed in transition for numerous layups and slam dunks.

“I think we really did a good job of making that extra pass,” Hirst

said. “And when Loara tried to trap us, we did a good job of making

something happen for us.”

Hirst said the smaller Saxons tried to push the pace, but Harbor was

up to the task.

“It didn’t matter if we had a three-pointer or a layup,” Hirst said.

“It seemed like every 2.2 seconds, they were coming back the other way

and getting a shot off.”

Newport finished with a 42-23 rebounding edge, thanks in large part to

Pajevic.

“I just made it a goal to get every rebound I could, then start our

break with an outlet pass,” Pajevic said. “We’ve been good all year (in

transition).”

Diefenbach finished with six points, four rebounds and three blocks

with a strong performance off the bench. He had a putback and a

two-handed dunk to punctuate Harbor’s third-quarter dominance.

Senior Bruce Sheldon, who did not take a shot the first 5:48, finished

with a team-high 26, including four three-pointers for Loara. Hassan Cook

added 21 points.