Newport loses

Christen D’Alessandro

The Newport Harbor High boys basketball team was defeated, 49-47, by

Highland High from Gilbert, Ariz., in the first round of the George

Yardley Summer Cage Classic at Newport Harbor.

Not only was this the first game of the tournament, but also the

first game of the summer for the Sailors.

“It was the first step of many for the summer,” Harbor Coach Larry

Hirst said.

The Sailors put up a good fight against the Hawks as the game was

tied at the end of every quarter through the third quarter.

Leading the way for the Sailors with 20 points was point guard

Tony Yaghjian, who also fouled out of the game in the fourth quarter.

Dennis Heenan put up 11 points and Robert Koon added nine.

Although Harbor looked strong on offense, their defense couldn’t

stop Highland’s Randy Harris, who had a team high of 12 points for

the Hawks.

The game came down to free throws in the last minute. Highland

sank 5 of 6 free throws in the waning seconds to rally for the win.

“We’ll look at this game and evaluate our strengths and

weaknesses,” Hirst said.

The Sailors will compete again today at 4:30 p.m. at Fountain

Valley against the loser of the Northwood/Savanna game.