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.”