Unsettled Sailors remain unbeaten

Barry Faulkner

With still more than half of December remaining, Newport Harbor High

boys basketball coach Larry Hirst has a better idea of what he’ll get

for Christmas than what he may wind up with on the floor.

But, as the Sailors extended their early season search for a

lineup and an identity Thursday night, they at least continued to

pocket victories. The host Tars improved to 4-0 with a 52-47 win over

Pleasant Grove of Utah in the second round of pool play at the Bill

Reynolds Classic.

Thursday’s contest, which wasn’t quite as close as the score might

indicate, provided a challenge to those trying to scope out the

Sailors. With some players slowed or stalled completely by illness,

and the return of four players suspended from Tuesday’s tournament

opener for violating team rules, playing time and combinations were

more than a little unpredictable.

The four aforementioned suspended players did not play in the

first half, allowing Hirst to conduct game-situation auditions.

Junior Taylor Young, who cashed in his increased minutes Tuesday

with 16 points in a 66-52 win over Compton, took advantage of his

on-court windfall once again, particularly before intermission.

The 6-foot-2 forward scored 12 of his game-high 14 points in the first two periods, connecting on his first five field-goal attempts

to help the hosts forge a 27-19 advantage.

Young also grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds.

In the second half, however, it was senior guard Robert Hunter who

seized the spotlight. After netting two free throws in his first

action in the third period, he netted all three fourth-quarter

field-goal tries to finish with eight points. He also twice brought

the Newport Harbor bench to its feet, first sprawling head-first on

the floor to collect a loose ball on the defensive end, then taking a

charge on the baseline to halt one of Pleasant Grove’s seemingly

unceasing comebacks.

“I thought [Hunter] brought some good energy to the game,” Hirst

said. “We place a lot of emphasis on taking the charge in our program

and I thought his diving on the floor turned momentum around for us.”

Hunter canned a 10-foot runner and, 21 seconds later, a layup for

Harbor’s first four points of the final quarter. His two buckets

extended a 39-24 lead at the end of three periods to 43-25.

Pleasant Grove, coached by Hirst’s former Southern California

College (now Vanguard University) teammate Randy McAllister, answered

with a 10-2 spurt that cut into the bulge, then followed Newport

sophomore Dennis Heenan’s 18-foot jumper with a 6-0 surge to close

within 47-41 with 1:34 left.

A Hunter layin, on a long pass in transition, helped widen the

margin, which slipped to 50-45 with 31 seconds left, after the

Vikings netted a three-pointer and free throw.

Two Heenan free throws with 22 seconds left all but secured the

win and Hirst and McAllister, who exchanged friendly banter all night

finally shared a postgame handshake.

“There’s probably nothing harder than playing one of your best

friends,” Hirst said. “We run the same stuff, we just call it

something different.”

Newport senior Andre Pinesett contributed six points, four

rebounds and three assists off the bench.

*--*

Bill Reynolds Classic Pool play

Newport Harbor 52, Pleasant Grove 47

Score by Quarters

Grove 8 11 5 23 - 47 Newport 11 16 12 13 - 52

Pleasant Grove - Jeppson 14, Hallman 8,

Clement 3, Co. Bilbro 5, Ca. Bilbro 4, Evans

5, Helquist 4, Iorg 2, Hall 2. 3-pt. goals -

Hallman 1, Co. Bilbro 1. Newport Harbor -

Young 14, Heenan 8, Diefenbach 4, Mouradyan 6,

Slater 0, Hunter 8, Pinesett 6, Green 2,

Perrine 2, Gousewitz 2, MacBeth 0. 3-pt. goals

- Young 1, Mouradyan 1. Fouled out -

Diefenbach.

*--*