Sea Kings’ rally comes up short

Richard Dunn

As a reward for their efforts, the Corona del Mar High Sea Kings will

play a postseason boys basketball game today -- and they’re ready.

“If we play (today) the way we played (Thursday night), we’ve got

a good shot,” Corona del Mar Coach Ryan Curry said after his team’s

60-51 loss to host Northwood in the Pacific Coast League finale,

which is followed by today’s 3 p.m. tipoff against Calvary Chapel at

University High for the PCL’s third and final guaranteed CIF Southern

Section Division III-A playoff spot.

Against the PCL champion Timberwolves, the Sea Kings (11-15, 4-6

in league) pulled to within six points in the fourth quarter and

missed a layup that would have cut Northwood’s lead to 54-50.

But the Timberwolves (21-5, 10-0) held on down the stretch to

capture their second straight PCL title.

“They’ve got a good team,” Northwood Coach Tim O’Brien said. “They

broke us down a lot and they’ve improved a lot since earlier in the

year. If they play hard and score like they did tonight, it’s tough.”

Northwood, led by 6-foot-5 senior Drew Terry, last year’s PCL

Player of the Year and a two-time All-CIF Division III selection,

enjoyed a 35-22 halftime lead. But the Sea Kings rallied in the third

quarter, outscoring the hosts, 20-13, to pull within 48-42 by

quarter’s end.

Terry, who finished with a game-high 22 points, scored his only

basket of the fourth quarter to open matters and give the hosts a

50-42 lead. After the Timberwolves scored again, the Sea Kings came

back with a putback by Pancho Seaborn (team-high 21 points) and layup

by Kris Cooper on a pass from Adam Freede with 4:12 remaining,

cutting Northwood’s lead to 52-46.

“It was a six-point ballgame and we missed that layup (with 4:00

left). That’s huge,” Curry said.

CdM’s opponent today, Calvary Chapel, defeated Tesoro, 59-50,

Thursday night. CdM split two PCL games with the Eagles this season,

winning on the road and losing at home.

“We continue to control our own destiny,” added Curry, whose team

stayed with Northwood for most of the first half, until the T-wolves

scored the second quarter’s final five points for a 13-point

intermission advantage.

Terry drained a three-pointer for the hosts with 4:00 left in the

third quarter, building the T-wolves’ lead to 44-30. Freede followed

with his only three-pointer of the game to trigger a 10-2 scoring run for the Sea Kings. After Freede’s shot, Seaborn scored seven straight

points on two free throws, a three-point bomb with 1:45 to play and a

layup with 1:25 left after a Northwood turnover, forcing O’Brien to

call timeout.

The Sea Kings, however, would never get closer than six points.

In addition to Seaborn’s third 21-point outing this season, Brett

Matsen added 10 points for Corona del Mar. Rob Selway, Northwood’s

6-6 senior center, scored 14 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and

added one steal and one blocked shot. Guard Jeff Stephens (10 points)

was also in double figures for the T-wolves.

CdM canned four three-pointers in the first quarter to keep pace

with Northwood, but the hosts hit 4 of 6 shots early in the second

quarter to build a 10-point lead.