CdM searches for solution

Patrick Laverty

Corona del Mar High boys basketball Coach Ryan Curry knows which

players the Sea Kings will be counting on come December. What he’s

looking for this summer are players to surround them with.

Jay Northridge and Pancho Seaborn, both three-year starters, are

expected to carry the club. But as Corona del Mar learned Friday in

the first round of the George Yardley Cage Classic at Newport Harbor

High, they aren’t going to be able to do it alone.

The Sea Kings allowed 42 second-half points to El Toro and fell

into the consolation bracket with a 59-37 loss. Corona del Mar opened

consolation play at 6 p.m. Friday against Edison.

“We need to find players to play at this level,” Curry said. “Even

though it’s summer, Yardley’s pretty intense.”

Corona del Mar led the defensive-minded affair, 6-5, after one

quarter, but could never get their offense going, scoring just five

points in the second quarter to fall behind, 17-11. The positive was

that those five points came from players other than Northridge and

Seaborn. Neal Rafferty scored off an offensive rebound, Taylor

MacDonald made 1 of 2 free throws and Adam Freede put in a deuce.

The offense improved after halftime with ball movement and strong

defense and the Sea Kings closed El Toro’s advantage to 20-17 over

the first 1:30 of the second half. This time Northridge and Seaborn

were both prominently involved, each scoring a bucket.

But the Chargers came back with a 12-0 run over the next three

minutes, pushing their advantage to 32-17 and effectively ending any

suspense.

“For us to win, we need to shoot the ball well and we didn’t shoot

well today,” Curry said.

Despite the 42 points allowed in the second half, 22 of which came

in the third quarter, Curry was happy with his team’s defensive

performance. What he wants to see from his players is an ability to

find solutions on the court.

“One of the things we’ve talked about this summer is finding

solutions, player solutions to problems,” Curry said. “When teams are

switching screens, we need to find counters to that.”

Part of that burden will fall on Northridge and Seaborn, but they

are only a partial answer. Curry is hopeful that the remainder of the

summer season, which includes the conclusion of the Yardley

tournament, can produce the remainder.