Sailors stave off Foothill

Barry Faulkner

Newport Harbor High boys basketball coach Larry Hirst used a

baseball analogy to explain the three-game losing streak the Sailors

took into Friday’s Sea View League opener against visiting Foothill.

So, it may have been fitting that Hirst credited his relief corps,

as well as the play of Newport’s only varsity baseball player, Andre

Pinesett, for a thrilling 52-51 victory over the Knights that

definitely found the Sailors’ sweet spot.

“It’s not like we’ve been playing poorly or doing things we needed

to correct,” Hirst said of consecutive losses to Marina, Los Alamitos

and Edison, after returning from a post-Christmas tournament in

Minnesota. “We were just in a slump. It was like we were foul-tipping

everything.”

The defending Sea View champion Sailors (9-7), lacked home-run

punch against Foothill (9-8), which led most of the first half and

opened the fourth quarter with a 6-0 spurt to establish a lead it

lost, then regained, then lost again in the final 70 seconds.

Pinesett, a junior who equaled his career-high with 10 points, to

go with his seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals, sank two

free throws to make it 48-48 with 1:45 left.

Brett Perrine then banked in an inside feed from 6-foot-8 center

Nedim Pajevic with 1:10 left to put the Tars up for good. Foothill,

however, did not go down without opportunities.

After sinking a free throw to pull within 50-49, Foothill junior

guard Brandt Bangs dived on the rebound of a second missed foul shot

and, while on the floor, called timeout before being tied up.

But, on the ensuing possession, Pinesett deflected a Foothill pass

into the hands of teammate Chase Cameron, who then found Chad Rorden

for an up-and-under layin that made it 52-49 with 27 seconds left.

Bangs, who led the Knights with 18 points, nailed a 15-footer with

21 seconds left to cut the deficit to 52-51 and Newport missed an

open layup, then turned it over on an inbound pass to give Foothill

possession under its own goal with one second left.

After timeouts by each team, Foothill missed an off-balance

18-foot baseline jumper at the buzzer, allowing Harbor to hold serve

against a team it had beaten, 47-39, in a Dec. 21 tournament game.

As dramatic as the finish turned out, Hirst said the defensive

presence of reserves Nick Glassic, Jair Hernandez and Brett Lowenthal

in the second quarter, may have been the turning point.

“Those three guys are known more for their offensive punch, but

without their contribution on defense when we held (the Knights) to

eight points in that second quarter (on 2-of-13 shooting), I’m not

sure this one doesn’t get away from us,” Hirst said.

Pajevic had 20 points and 13 rebounds, hitting 9 of 13 field-goal

attempts to help the Sailors overcome losing the turnover battle,

21-6.

Newport Harbor finished 23 of 42 from the field (54.8%), while

Foothill shot 35.8%, hitting 19 of 53.