Sailors drift astray losing to Warriors
Barry Faulkner
To draw an analogy from Super Bowl history, the Newport Harbor
High boys basketball team pulled a Scott Norwood in Friday’s 57-36
Sea View League loss at Woodbridge.
Even more than wide right, however, the Sailors outdid the
infamous errant Buffalo Bills place-kicker by adding wide left, short
and long on most of their field-goal tries.
The Sailors (12-8, 4-1 in league) made just 1 of 10 from the field
in the third quarter and were 5 for 24 on field-goal attempts after
halftime (20.8%). They finished 14 of 48 (29.2%) to fall out of sole
possession of first place and into a tie atop the league standings
with the Warriors (15-5, 4-1).
“When your jump-shooters don’t make shots, you’re in trouble,”
summed up Newport Harbor Coach Larry Hirst.
Sophomore forward Brett Perrine gave the Sailors their first lead
with a three-pointer with 3:23 left in the first quarter and senior
guard Chad Rorden drilled a 15-foot jumper 56 seconds later to help
the visitors secure a 13-11 lead after one period.
But the Tars did not hit another outside shot until Rorden
connected from beyond the arc with 1:50 left in the game. Newport
missed 11 three-point attempts in the second half to virtually wash
away a strong first-half performance.
Using good ball movement, spacing and aggressive drives to the
basket, the unranked Sailors played the Warriors, ranked No. 6 in
Orange County and No. 6 in CIF Southern Section Division II-AA, even
the first 16 minutes.
Woodbridge used a 6-0 run early in the second to wrest a 17-15
lead, then needed back-to-back layins late in the half to wind up
with a 22-21 intermission lead. To that point, the game featured four
ties and six lead changes.
But the visitors unraveled quickly after the break, as Woodbridge
scored on three layups to open the third quarter, then followed
Perrine’s layin with another 6-0 run to make it 34-23.
Starting with a Nedim Pajevic free throw with 37 seconds left in
the third quarter, the visitors scored seven straight, including four
by junior reserve forward Brett Lowenthal, to climb to within 34-30
with 5:41 left in the game.
But that was as close as the defending league champions would get,
as Woodbridge, which fell Wednesday at Foothill, 73-64, answered with
an 8-0 run and outscored the visitors, 23-12, in the final period.
“We had the same game plan in the second half that we had in the
first,” Hirst said. “Even after the third quarter, we didn’t hit the
panic switch. But we just couldn’t execute.”
Only Rorden (2 for 3) and senior reserve Nick Glassic (1 for 2) at
least broke even from the field, as the Sailors posted their
second-lowest point total of the season. Only a 55-34 loss to El Toro
was less productive. The Sailors shot 30.4% from the field (14 of 46)
in that Dec. 19 tournament contest.
Pajevic, who at 6-foot-8 had the rare experience of looking up at
his competition (6-10 junior David Burgess), finished with 13 points
and 10 rebounds to pace the Sailors. He had 10 points and seven
boards at halftime.
Rorden, who added seven rebounds and four assists, had seven
points, while the 6-6 Lowenthal came off the bench to chip in six
points.
Burgess paced the winners with 14 points and added eight rebounds,
while Chris Boldig, a 6-6 senior, contributed 13 points and five
boards. Boldig was 5 of 7 from the field and hit all three of his
free throws.
Boldig’s free-throw accuracy stood out for Woodbridge, which
connected on just 11 of its 26 foul shots (42.3%).
The Sailors shot just 10 free throws, making six.
“The good news is: We’re still in first place,” said Hirst, whose
team has either owned or shared the Sea View lead the last 15 league
games. “The bad news is: This league is too good to rest on your
laurels.”
The Sailors open the second round of league action at Foothill
Wednesday. The Tars defeated the Knights, 52-51, at home Jan. 10.
Woodbridge Coach John Halagan said the win was very gratifying,
especially after Wednesday’s setback.
“There’s no coach or team I respect more than Larry and Newport
Harbor,” Halagan said.
“We took finals this week and we were glad to have those behind
us, so we could focus on the game tonight. I think we had a sense of
lethargy Wednesday (against Foothill), and, tonight, we had a sense
of urgency.”
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