Sailors gather some momentum before departing John Wayne

Newport Harbor High’s boys basketball team put the final tags on

their luggage Saturday at the Holiday Basketball Classic at Anaheim

Convention Center with a 47-39 victory over Sea View League rival

Foothill to finish 2-2 in the tournament and improve to 6-3 overall.

The Sailors, who were led by the scoring (14 points) and

rebounding (16 boards) of Nedim Pajevic, despite a painful hip injury

sustained on Friday, have some Christmas shopping left before

Wednesday, then take off from John Wayne Thursday morning at 7 for

Minneapolis.

That night, at 8, the Sailors duel St. Cloud-based Suak Rapids

High in the first round of the eight-team St. Cloud Tournament.

Mesa drops 48-37 decision to Stockdale

BOYS: Costa Mesa High’s boys basketball team cut its deficit to

37-33 in the fourth quarter, but Stockdale proved too much and beat

the Mustangs, 48-37, in a consolation game of the Irvine World News

Classic at Concordia University Saturday.

Stockdale answered Mesa’s fourth-quarter charge with an 11-0 run

to seal the victory. Mesa went 1-3 in the tournament and falls to 4-5

overall.

Danny Krikorian led the Mustangs with 18 points and Marko

Stankovic added 10 rebounds for Costa Mesa, which plays next in the

Orange Holiday Classic against Rockfield of Nevada at Chapman

University Thursday.