George Yardley Cage Classic: Sea Kings inch past Sailors

Steve Virgen

NEWPORT BEACH - This is how much of a difference a year makes.

The Corona del Mar High boys basketball team, one year older under

Coach Ryan Curry, came from behind to defeat Back Bay rival Newport

Harbor, 56-52, in a second-round game of the George Yardley Summer Cage

Classic, at Newport’s main gym Friday.

Kevin Mancillas, who will be a senior for the CdM Sea Kings in the

fall, scored a team-high 24 points, including 3 of 5 from three-point

range. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, hitting three

three-pointers, the latter from the corner to give the Sea Kings a 47-46

lead with 2:40 remaining.

“We’ve had a year together and we have more experience,” Mancillas

said. “If I’m feeling it they give (the ball) to me. Or, if Pancho

(Seaborn) is hot, he’ll get the ball. We have five shooters, and we’re

all capable.”

CdM displayed its offensive capability in the fourth quarter, as the

Sea Kings made like the Dallas Mavericks and shot, shot, shot from the

outside.

“We didn’t take Corona del Mar out of their game,” Newport Coach Larry

Hirst said. “They did what they wanted to do and we let them. You could

tell there’s been a difference since last year. They just had to learn

what Ryan was teaching them. I think it’s just a difference a year

makes.”

Nedim Pajevic, a 6-foot-8 center who will be a senior for Newport in

the fall, led the Sailors with a game-high 27 points. He scored mainly

from the inside, but also hit a three-pointer in the first quarter, when

the Sea Kings struggled with their shooting. But they came on in the

second half.

Trailing, 26-19, at the half, CdM outscored Newport, 14-8, in the

third quarter. CdM junior-to-be Adam Freede recorded a steal, dribbled

the length of the court and pulled up to nail a jump shot at the buzzer,

and the Sea Kings were down, 34-33.

In the fourth quarter, Mancillas took advantage of his wide-open space

and knocked down his shots. The Sailors seemed to be focused to stop

Seaborn, who scored 26 points in a 65-62 win over St. Monica.

“(Some Newport players) were saying they were going to beat us,”

Mancillas said. “It was just a question of how much they would beat us

by, that’s what they were saying. It felt good to win.”

After Mancillas’ three-pointer put the Sea Kings up, 47-46, CdM

grabbed more momentum as Seaborn drew an offensive foul from Pajevic in

the post. Then, the Sea Kings ran a stall-type offense and hit 7 of 12

free throws down the stretch.

“For us, (winning close games) is really big,” Curry said. “Those are

games we wouldn’t win last year. We needed to play to our strengths, and

so we gave up the interior defense.”

Seaborn added nine points for the Sea Kings, while Jay Northridge and

Freede contributed seven points each, and Brett Matsen scored six.

Chase Cameron, the point guard for the Sailors, scored seven points,

and Jaire Hernandez added five.

CdM will play at noon today at Newport. The Sailors will compete today

at 11:30 a.m. in the George Yardley Cage Classic, which features an

unprecedented 44 teams and 93 games.