Sailors trounce Irvine

Barry Faulkner

Newport Harbor High boys basketball coach Larry Hirst said Sailor

coaches and players reviewed the video of Wednesday’s Sea View League

loss at Aliso Niguel as intensely as they have any game in recent

memory.

The video of Friday’s 59-35 Sea View home triumph over Irvine,

however, might just stay perched on the shelf.

For, after opening a 17-0 lead, including a 15-0 cushion at the

end of one quarter, the Sailors (10-8, 2-1 in league) and Vaqueros

(1-17, 0-3) showed more effort than efficiency.

“We were disappointed in a lot of areas after losing to Aliso

Niguel,” Hirst said. “That’s a great team, but we were our own worst

enemy. So, we had the longest film session of the season, trying to

point out little areas we wanted to improve.”

Hirst cited offensive rebounding and defensive rotations as two

specific areas in which he believed his team made progress Friday.

But the Tars’ dominance on the offensive boards came at the

expense of a subpar shooting performance. Of the Sailors’ 50

rebounds, exactly double the total produced by the visitors, 28 came

on their own missed shots.

The Sailors finished 21 of 63 from the field (33.3%), a slight

improvement from their 31% effort before halftime (9 for 29).

But if Newport Harbor’s first-half shooting was suspect, Irvine’s

was, well, let the numbers tell the tale.

The Vaqueros, held scoreless the first 10 minutes, 13 seconds of

the contest, missed their first 12 field-goal tries, before senior

Craig Skidmore’s successful 10-footer drew a cheer from rooters of

both teams.

The visitors were 0 for 9 in the first quarter, including five air

balls, and one of their two first-period free throws also failed to

draw iron. Irvine was a mere 6 of 22 from the field after two periods

(27.3%), after which the Sailors held a 28-12 advantage.

Part of the Vaqueros’ struggles, of course, could be attributed to

the Sailors’ stifling man-to-man defense.

Newport swarmed Irvine ball handlers on the perimeter, forcing 12

of the visitors’ 18 turnovers before intermission.

Hirst said he liked his players’ intensity, as well as the fact

that they sustained it after earning the decisive advantage.

“I give our kids credit,” Hirst said. “We played our first two

league games on the road and I think they were happy to be back at

home, playing in front of a friendly crowd. Everyone had energy for

us, whether it was the guys on the floor, or on the bench.”

As is usually the case when one team earns a lopsided lead early

on, there were lapses for the Sailors, whose starters combined to

make just 12 of 42 field-goal attempts (28.6%).

“I haven’t seen our shot chart yet, but I’m willing to say we had

a lot of misses in the paint,” Hirst said.

Newport did not have a three-pointer and made just five attempts

from beyond the arc.

Seniors Taylor Young and Brett Perrine paced the offense for the

winners, producing 15 and 14 points, respectively. Young added 11

rebounds (six offensive) and Perrine nabbed seven of his eight boards

on the offensive end.

Junior Robert Koon chipped in eight rebounds to go with his seven

points, while junior Parker Stevens added five points and five

rebounds off the bench.

Sea View League

Newport Harbor 59, Irvine 35

Score by Quarters

*--*

Irvine 0 12 12 11 -- 35

Newport 15 13 16 15 -- 59

*--*

Irvine -- Skidmore 17, Nourse 8, Tew 6, Becktell 3, Carter 1.

3-pt. goals -- Becktell 1.

Newport Harbor -- Young 15, Perrine 14, Koon 7, Nasca 2, Slater 0,

Heenan 6, Yaghjian 6, Stevens 5, Cornwell 2, Jackson 2, Brewer 0, Lee

0.

3-pt. goals -- None.