Eagles pull out 62-58 victory

Barry Faulkner

Waging a prolonged comeback that must have felt like pushing a

piano up Placentia Avenue, it was junior reserve guard Tyler

Hoffman’s sweet string music that eventually helped the determined

Estancia High boys basketball team overcome Garden Grove, 62-58,

Wednesday night.

Hoffman hit all three of his three-point attempts in the fourth

quarter, all on rapid releases from the left corner at Garden Grove

High, to help Estancia sweep its three-team pool and advance to

Friday’s championship semifinal of the Garden Grove Tournament. The

Eagles, who at 6-1 are off to their best start since 1996, will meet

an opponent to be determined for the chance to play in Saturday’s

title game.

Hoffman’s final line-drive three-pointer, all three of which hit

nothing but net, gave the Eagles a 52-51 advantage, ending a span of

16:42 in which they had not led. Hoffman’s final three-pointer also

triggered an 8-0 run that helped cement the victory, the Eagles’

fifth in a row.

“After I made the first one, I started feeling it,” said Hoffman,

who had missed his first three shots from beyond the arc. “I felt

like someone had to step up.”

There were additional heroes as well for the visitors, who, after

falling behind at halftime, 27-19, began applying increasing degrees

of defensive pressure, until reaching all-out panic mode early in the

fourth quarter.

“It was like that Chicago song that goes ‘Saturday, in the park, I

think it was the Fourth of July,’ ” Estancia Coach Chris Sorce said

after the up-and-down affair that included 38 combined turnovers

(split evenly), 47 combined free throws, 56 missed field-goal

attempts and repeated sighs of disgust from both rooting sections

after ill-fated plays by both teams. “There was just no semblance of

order. It was a free-for-all, but I think the ugliness of the game,

actually helped us get back into it. We’ve played Garden Grove two

years in a row and both games have gone down to the wire (Estancia

won last year, 59-53).”

Estancia’s swarming pressure, spearheaded by senior guards Zack

Novak and Matt Cachola, helped the Eagles keep whittling away. But

the opportunistic Argos (4-4) kept answering.

Estancia closed to within 29-27, early in the third quarter, only

to see the hosts nudge the lead back to six with consecutive baskets.

A three-point play by 6-foot-7 senior center Joey Lindquist, who

missed most of the contest in foul trouble, brought the Eagles to

within 33-31 with 2:50 left in the third quarter, and a steal and

layin by junior forward Scott Sankey brought Estancia even, 37-37,

with 1:06 left in the period.

But an Argo free-throw and a buzzer-beating three-pointer by

Garden Grove leading scorer David Richmond (20 points), helped create

a 41-37 edge heading into the final eight minutes.

The Ealges closed to within 41-39, but with 4:55 left, Grove led,

49-42.

A Carlos Pinto foul-line jumper, a Hoffman three-pointer and a

Sankey putback erased that deficit with 3:22 left, but layin by

Grove’s Joe Monsoor dropped the Eagles back into comeback mode.

Hoffman’s go-ahead three-pointer was set up by Novak’s offensive

rebound on the subsequent possession, and another Pinto jumper with

2:11 left gave the Eagles an insurmountable 54-51 advantage.

“Tyler was a huge key for us in the fourth quarter, because we

were really struggling, offensively,” Sorce said. “His three-pointers

really brought us back.”

Novak, whose energetic contribution included eight rebounds, four

steals and four assists, shared team-high scoring honors with Sankey

(11 points).

Pinto and Hoffman finished with 10 points each, while Lindquist

added eight and Cachola seven.

“I’m always saying Novak is like our Energizer Bunny,” Sorce said.

“He was a big part of the comeback, on both ends of the floor. And, I

thought Pinto’s two 15-footers in the closing minutes were also big.”

Estancia’s energy helped them overcome a poor shooting night. They

hit 7 of 10 fourth-quarter field-goal attempts to finish 21 of 48

(43.7%) and sank just 16 of 32 foul shots.

Garden Grove netted 12 of its 15 free throws, but had just two

field goals the last five minutes to see its three-game winning

streak snapped.