No swoon for the Sailors

Newport Harbor closes out the regular season with a victory, sealing second place in the Sea View League.NEWPORT BEACH -- With a 66-46 win over Laguna Hills on Wednesday night, the Newport Harbor High boys’ basketball team concluded league play, clinching second place in the Sea View League.

Among many things on the players’ minds going into the game was the thought that with a win, they would become only the sixth team in the Sailors’ 75 years to win 20 or more games in a season.

Others were anxious for a victory to send the 13 graduating seniors off with a proper goodbye.

And a few glanced back to Jan. 20, when the Sailors (20-5, 7-3 in league) defeated the Hawks, 56-42, but allowed them to creep back in several times throughout the game.

Wednesday’s game seemed remarkably similar, especially when Newport Harbor Coach Larry Hirst looked up at the scoreboard and saw exactly the same thing he saw during last month’s meeting.

“Last time we played them, the score was 27-17, and all of a sudden it was a four-point ballgame,” he said. “And on one particular time out [tonight], it was 27-17. We said, ‘OK fellas, either we’re going to let them back in like we did at their place, or we have a chance to close the door.’”

It took a quarter for the Sailors to warm up, but once they did, they not only closed the door, they nailed it shut. With the help of sophomore Kyle Caldwell, who scored six points in the paint, the Sailors maintained a 12-point lead in the second quarter.

“In the first quarter, we came out flat and we weren’t sharing the basketball,” Hirst said. “But we got a big contribution from our bench.”

“Everyone says if you have a good bench, you have a good team,” guard Tony Yaghjian said.

Newport Harbor closed out the first half with a 17-0 run and proceeded to carry it over into the second half. The Sailors ended the third quarter with a 47-28 lead after getting 14 points from senior Dennis Heenan.

Another factor for the Sailors was Yaghjian, who -- after only scoring two points in the first half -- scored nine in the fourth quarter to pad the victory.

The Hawks (10-17, 2-8) ended the fourth with a 10-4 run, but the damage was already done.

“Newport Harbor plays tough defense,” said Laguna Hills Coach Joe Brick. “Once they clamped down, they didn’t give us a lot of good looks.”

Heenan finished with 22 points and seven rebounds, and Yaghjian scored 11 points.

“We came out soft, but we picked it up,” said Heenan. “It feels good, especially after starting our season 0-2.”

The pairings for the CIF Southern Section basketball playoffs will be released Monday.

Sea View League

Newport Harbor 66,

Laguna Hills 46

Score by Quarters