McIntee’s shots lead to victory

Justin McIntee has been in this position before.

All three years he has participated in the Newport Harbor High

alumni basketball tournament, his team has come out on top.

McIntee, who took a leave of absence from the tournament the past

two years, was back in form Saturday, scoring a team-high 15 points

to lead his alumni squad to a 43-37 championship-game victory at

Newport Harbor.

It was a performance for the ages, as McIntee’s squad -- comprised

mainly of graduates from the 1990s (two from 1988) -- helped dethrone

the defending champions, comprised of four 2003 graduates, one from

2004 and another from 1973.

It was new school versus newer school.

“This is the only time we all get to hang out together,” said

McIntee, who played basketball for Vanguard University from

1996-1998. “It’s fun to get together and play ball. I don’t know how

many times we have left [to win].”

The top-seeded team of McIntee (class of 1992), Eddie Martinez

(1990), Craig DeBusk (1990), Mike Bassler (1988), Erik Drageset

(1988) and Eric Vallely (1994) battled their way through the

eight-team tournament and into the final before dispatching the

youngsters in convincing fashion.

And the opposing middle presence of 6-foot-8 Jamie Diefenbach and

6-8 George Fedorovtsev didn’t slow the winners in the slightest, as

they held a lead the entire game and at one point widened it to a

15-point margin.

McIntee had his 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting and grabbed four

rebounds during the 20-minute contest.

“This is just going to make these [younger] guys try harder next

year,” said McIntee, 30, who is currently associate director of donor

relations at Vanguard. “The young guys are tough.”

Tournament Director Jamie Holmes (1973) was the lone player from

his team who didn’t graduate this decade.

“Everyone seemed to have a blast,” said Holmes, who scored four

points in the final. “It’s good to get out here and have fun and get

a little testosterone flowing.”

In its fifth year of existence, the tournament is held as a

fundraiser for the school’s booster club. Each team is required to

pay a $25 entry fee.

Holmes, who has put on the tournament in all five years of its

existence, was pleased with Saturday’s turnout, but winning the final

would have been even better.

“I would have loved it,” he said. “You know what, though, I got a

good workout and it’s fun seeing a bunch of guys that played [at

Newport Harbor] that I’ve never met before.”

But McIntee and Co. were relentless.

McIntee scored the first seven points for his team and the winners

jumped out to a quick 20-10 lead eight minutes into the contest.

Diefenbach pulled the opposers to within striking distance,

hitting a layup with 4:22 left to push the team within a 33-26

margin. But the winners held on as McIntee and DeBusk made two key

shots with less than three minutes remaining.

Diefenbach finished with a game-high 17 points -- including two

dunks -- to lead his team.