Laguna breaks Corona del Mar

Patrick Laverty

Ryan Curry, the Corona del Mar High boys basketball coach, has

emphasized playing well and having fun throughout the 2003-04 season,

but the Sea Kings weren’t able to accomplish either of those goals

Wednesday in a Pacific Coast League clash with visiting Laguna Beach.

The Breakers never trailed and held off a spirited last-minute

rally by the Sea Kings -- who had their top two scorers and their top

rebounder foul out of the game -- for a 48-43 win, their second over

Corona del Mar this season.

“That’s two games in a row they’ve done an excellent job of

slowing us down, except at the end of the game,” Sea Kings Coach Ryan

Curry said.

Corona del Mar (11-11, 2-4 in league) trailed by as many as nine

points midway through the fourth quarter, but took the game down to

the final seconds by forcing the Breakers into mistakes in the game’s

final minutes.

After two free throws by Tyler Lance cut the deficit to 44-38 with

1:20 remaining, Lance stole the ball in the backcourt, leading to a

foul on Adam Freede, who made one of two free throws.

Tyler’s younger brother, Ryan, stole the ball in the backcourt on

Laguna’s next possession and Tyler Lance dished to Freede for a

layup, bringing the Sea Kings to within 44-41 with 53 seconds

remaining.

After trading free throws to push the score to 45-42, the Sea

Kings nearly came up with a crucial steal near midcourt, but a foul

was called on Freede. It was the second vital call to go against

Corona del Mar in the waning minutes.

Earlier, Laguna Beach’s Taylor Willhoit was not assessed a

technical despite obviously hanging on the rim. One referee even

signaled for a technical foul, before the second official overruled

him. Had the Sea Kings been given the two free throws that correspond

with a technical foul, they could have cut the lead to four points

with 3:21 remaining.

“If we were playing better, that doesn’t bother me in the least,”

Curry said. “When you’re not playing well, you start looking for

other things to blame.”

Laguna Beach held off the Sea Kings frantic finish by making 12 of

20 free throws in the fourth quarter and 18 of 35 in the game. Pancho

Seaborn (10 points), Jay Northridge (six points) and Tyler Lance

(four points, six rebounds) all fouled out.

Corona del Mar was whistled for 27 fouls, compared to 16 for the

Breakers. But when the Sea Kings did get to the foul line, they

struggled, shooting just 12 of 22.

“At the end, I thought our effort was really good,” Curry said.

“But the who first half, we just had trouble getting anything going.

They slowed it down to a walking pace.”

*--*

Pacific Coast League

Laguna Beach 48, Corona del Mar 43

Score by Quarters

Laguna 13 7 9 19 -- 48

CdM 11 5 9 18 -- 43

Laguna Beach -- Kote 6, Martin 14, Sands 7,

Kovacevic 13, Clark 5, S. Willhoit 0, Bedrick

0, T. Willhoit 3, Marquette 0, Payne 0. 3-pt.

goals -- Martin 1, Clark 1. Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None. Corona del Mar --

Northridge 6, Freede 11, Seaborn 10, MacDonald

0, T. Lance 4, Watanabe 0, R. Lance 10,

Reynolds 0, Mohler 2, Kabaklian 0. 3-pt. goals

-- Seaborn 1. Fouled out -- Seaborn,

Northridge, T. Lance. Technicals -- None.

*--*