No shared title for Sea Kings after loss

Corona del Mar loses to Northwood again in Pacific Coast League play. Still, second place puts CdM back in the playoffs.IRVINE -- The only thing hotter than the weather on Wednesday just could have been the Northwood High boys’ basketball team.

And Corona del Mar found out for the second time this season that size doesn’t always conquer all.

The Timberwolves drained a sizzling 8 of 11 three-pointers in the first quarter and finished the evening with a 78-65 victory to end the Sea Kings’ hopes of a split Pacific Coast League title.

Despite the loss, Corona del Mar (16-10, 9-3 in league) finished tied for second with University in league and will enter the CIF Southern Section Division III-AA postseason after missing out last season.

“If I would have thought five or six weeks that we would finish second in league, with a chance for a shared title, I would have taken that,” Corona del Mar Coach Ryan Curry said. “I can’t complain now, but I still do.”

Northwood (19-7, 11-1) -- which handed the Sea Kings a 73-52 setback on Jan. 20 in very much the same fashion -- raced out to a 29-21 first-quarter advantage on Wednesday behind the perfect shooting of Wes Parsel. The 5-foot-11 senior, who is the son of Estancia High Athletic Director Tim Parsel, drained the Timberwolves’ first three baskets -- all three-pointers -- and finished the quarter with another trey. Parsel concluded the night shooting 6 of 7 from beyond the arc and finished with 19 points.

Corona del Mar’s twin-tower tandem of sophomore Stefan Kaluz and senior Scott Slaughter -- both 6-foot-7 -- proved to be cumbersome against the scorching outside shooting of the Timberwolves.

“They’re tough to guard because they’re so good at threes,” said Kaluz, who tallied a game-high 26 points for the Sea Kings. “They like to live and die by the three.”

Corona del Mar cooled Northwood off in the second quarter, holding it to 14 points, but the first quarter proved to be the undoing for the visitors. Paralleling the first meeting between the two teams this season, when the Timberwolves jumped out to a 19-8 lead, the Sea Kings could not climb back into contention.

“I told [my players] that the season ends when someone beats us,” Curry said. “And Northwood beat us tonight.”

The Timberwolves had four players in double figures -- Zack Zaragoza (21), Chris O’Brien (22) and Avner Alkhas (11), along with Parsel. Only senior Ryan Lance (16) accompanied Kaluz in double digits for the Sea Kings.

Senior Erik Rask added nine points for Corona del Mar, while junior John Joyce had six, Slaughter had four and both seniors Shaun Mohler and Peter Eberhard added two apiece.

Pairings for the CIF Southern Section playoffs will be released Sunday afternoon.

Pacific Coast League

Northwood 78,

Corona del Mar 65

Score by Quarters