Local eighth-grade team finishes third

The eighth-grade boys National Junior Basketball team from

Newport-Mesa placed third out of eight teams in the top division of

the national tournament April 2-3 at Hope International University in

Fullerton.

The Newport-Mesa Lakers finished 17-4, going 12-2 in the regular

season before finishing 3-1 and 2-1 in the sectional and national

rounds, respectively, against teams from Arizona, Hawaii, California

and Nevada.

Riverside South defeated the Lakers once in both the sectional and

national rounds while Long Beach accounted for their two

regular-season losses.

Players include Troy McClanahan, Blaine Bolus, Michael Helfrich,

Sean Donovan, Cameron Holmes, Joey Jones, Andy Morrow, Andrew

Yellich, J.B. Green and Danny Miller.

McClanahan led the team in scoring with 14.9 points per game

followed by Joey Jones (12.2) and Donovan (10.4). Donovan finished

with team-highs in rebounds (6.9) and steals per game (2.7).

This is the fourth straight year the team has reached the national

division, Coach Jaime Holmes said.