Panthers pounce Newport Harbor

Barry Faulkner

Tonight’s championship game of the Bill Reynolds Classic won’t

include two of its namesake’s disciples, as host Newport Harbor High

came up short in its final pool-play clash Friday against Peninsula.

The Panthers’ 62-58 win means the Sailors, and Coach Larry Hirst,

will compete for third place tonight at 5:30 against La Costa Canyon.

The Sailors (4-1) fell behind, 21-13, after one quarter and spent

the rest of the game battling back.

Harbor took leads of 48-47 and 50-49, then tied it at 55 on Alex

Orth’s 15-footer with 1:27 left in the game.

But a three-point play by Bill Clark with 1:09 remaining put the

Panthers (4-3) up for good and propelled them into the title game

against El Toro.

El Toro Coach Todd Dixon, like Hirst, played for Reynolds at

Southern California College (now Vanguard University).

Jamie Diefenbach, a 6-foot-8 senior, led the Tars with 16 points

and also added six rebounds and two blocked shots. Sophomore guard

Dennis Heenan netted 6 of 7 field-goal attempts, all midrange

jumpers, to finish with 12 points, while junior forward Taylor Young

had eight points, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and one

blocked shot. Eight of the 11 Sailors who played, including four

reserves, scored.

Conversely, Peninsula received points only from its five starters,

led by junior guard David Petersen, who hit 7 of 10 from the field en

route to 22 first-half points and wound up with a game-high 28

points. Pedersen netted four of his five three-pointers before

intermission, before the Sailors tightened their defense on him.

“We thought we had them scouted, but maybe [Pedersen] was mad or

motivated in some other way,” Hirst said.

*--*

Bill Reynolds Classic Third-round pool play

Peninsula 62, Newport Harbor 58

Score by Quarters

Peninsula 21 14 12 15 - 62

Newport 13 15 14 16 - 58

Peninsula - Clark 11, Costa 10, Graeber 6,

Pedersen 28, Savant 7. 3-pt. goals - Pedersen

5, Clark 1. Technicals - Clark 1. Newport

Harbor - Young 8, Green 4, Diefenbach 16,

Heenan 12, Mouradyan 0, Hunter 5, Pinesett 5,

Orth 4, Perrine 4, MacBeth 0, Slater 0. 3-pt.

goals - Green 1. Fouled out - Green.

*--*