Estancia shakes off jitters, 66-51

Barry Faulkner

A rusty, sometimes ragged, but relentless Estancia High boys

basketball team kept at it until it got the three words from Coach

Chris Sorce it ultimately needed after a 66-51 victory over Laguna

Beach in the first round of the La Quinta Aztec Classic Monday at La

Quinta High.

“I’ll take it,” Sorce said after his team turned a 26-25 halftime

deficit into a decisive victory, setting up a championship

quarterfinal clash tonight at 8 against Orange Lutheran, also at La

Quinta.

It was a shaky start for Estancia, opening its season one week

after the allowable date for contests. Laguna Beach, which, playing

its fourth game of the year, had no such excuse for its 10-turnover

first period.

The two teams combined for 18 turnovers in the opening eight

minutes, after which the Eagles led, 11-9.

Both teams took better care of the ball from there on in, but

making shots proved problematic throughout for the Breakers (2-2) and

Eagles (1-0).

The Eagles missed several layups in the first half and finished

just 15 of 32 from the foul line (47%). But sticking with its

offensive sets and taking advantage of some second-half transition

opportunities, the Eagles eventually pulled away.

“I think you definitely saw some first-game jitters and that was

to be expected,” said Sorce, who admitted his stomach was also

churning for much of the night. “But I believed, ability wise, if we

just kept running our stuff and playing decent defense, we’d have a

chance. We came on strong in the second half and we put an

exclamation point on it in the fourth quarter.”

The Eagles scored the first five points after intermission to

claim a 30-26 advantage, but Laguna, led by senior Villa Park

transfer Kyle Hogan, rallied for a 5-0 run of its own, including one

of Hogan’s three three-pointers, to push ahead, 31-30.

However, Joey Lindquist, Estancia’s 6-foot-7 senior center,

sparked an 8-0 Eagle flurry with a strong post move inside and the

Eagles eventually took a 39-35 cushion into the final quarter.

That’s when things got rolling for the designated hosts, who hit 9

of 15 field-goal attempts in the period, to make it a comfortable

victory.

Guards Matt Cachola (10 assists) and Zack Novak (three assists,

five rebounds and a pair of steals) triggered the offensive attack,

which included double-digit scoring from forwards Carlos Pinto (14

points), Jordan Stroman (12) and Scott Sankey (11). Cachola and Novak

also finished with nine points apiece, while Lindquist added six.

Pinto, a 6-4 sophomore returning starter, collected a team-high 12

rebounds, while Stroman pulled down seven boards for the winners.

But Sorce was more anxious to talk about defense than offense

after the game.

“I thought Sankey, (Erik) Andersen and Novak combined to do a

great job on Hogan,” Sorce said.

Hogan, who had just three points in the opening quarter, exploded

for 15 in the second period, netting 4 of 5 field-goal tries and

sinking 5 of 6 free throws. But Hogan managed just six points after

halftime, netting just 2 of 9 from the field. He was clearly

frustrated by the combined defensive focus.

Alex Norfleet, Austin Sands and Ivan Kovacevic all had six points

apiece for the Breakers, who struggled to find any offensive flow,

particularly when Hogan was bottled up.

“We just started talking about Hogan the last couple days as we

prepared for this game,” Sorce said. “We knew he was going to get his

25, but we wanted to make sure the other guys didn’t beat us.”

La Quinta Tournament

First round

Estancia 66, Laguna Beach 51

Laguna Beach 9 17 9

16 -- 51

Estancia 11 14 14

27 -- 66

Laguna Beach -- Hogan 23, Norfleet 6, S. Willhoit 6,

Sands 6, Kovacevic 6,Wheeler 3.

3-pt. goals -- Hogan 3, Wheeler 1.

Fouled out -- none.

Technicals -- none.

Estancia -- Pinto 14, Sankey 11, Lindquist 6, Cachola 9,

Novak 9, Stroman 12, Hoffman 3, Andersen 2, Escobedo 0, Meissner 0,

Viramontes 0, Quijada 0.

3-pt. goals -- Pinto 1, Cachola 1.

Fouled out -- none.

Technicals -- none.