CdM can’t finish deal

The Sea Kings rally, but late three-pointers won’t fall in a Division III-AA first-round loss against Western.ANAHEIM -- The Corona del Mar High girls’ basketball team had to win a one-game playoff just to reach the CIF Southern Section Division III-AA playoffs. But once they got there, they showed they belonged.

The Sea Kings scraped and clawed to the end, nearly erasing a 10-point second-half deficit, but came up short in a 53-47 first-round loss to Western on Thursday night.

Western had the edge inside with two, physical, 6-foot post players in freshman Sarah Hoagland and junior Lauren Kribell, who combined for 32 points and 20 rebounds.

If the Sea Kings were going to win, they were going to do it with outside shooting against Western’s zone defense. Corona del Mar (13-12) had good looks at the basket all game, but couldn’t connect with any kind of consistency.

The Sea Kings didn’t hit their first three-pointer until there was 3:25 left in the game. Katie Schulte did the honors from behind the top of the key to pull Corona del Mar to within 45-38.

After Corona del Mar’s pressure defense caused a Pioneer turnover, Allie Duernberger made what appeared to be a three-pointer, but her foot was touching the three-point line and she was credited with a two-point bucket to pull the Sea Kings to within 45-40.

Kristina Wayte (eight points, five rebounds) made two free throws with 2:10 left to cut the lead to 45-42, capping a 7-0 run for the Sea Kings.

Corona del Mar had two more chances to tie the game, but three-point attempts by Schulte (team-high 13 points) and Duernberger (eight points) missed the mark.

The Pioneers made 8 of 12 free-throw attempts in the last two minutes to keep a small lead.

“At the end of the fourth quarter, we had three or four possessions where we had good looks but our shots weren’t falling,” second-year Corona del Mar Coach Scott Kahawai said. “We had a lot of great looks in the first half, too, but we weren’t making our shots. We were executing everything, we just weren’t finishing.”

The Sea Kings hadn’t been in a lot of playoff-type games in recent years, and the intensity level may have put a little too much juice on their shots.

“Corona del Mar girls’ basketball has not been in a lot of games at this level of intensity and won,” Kahawai said. “The playoffs are a whole different level than coming out of the Pacific Coast League. But that’s not to take anything away from them. They played with a lot of heart.”

CdM recovered from a four-point first quarter, outscored Western, 16-12, in the second quarter and trailed 22-20 at halftime.

Kribell led all players with 12 points and eight rebounds in the first half and finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for Western (16-10), which tied for second place in the Orange League. Hoagland tallied 17 points -- 11 in the second half.

“Sarah [Hoagland] and Lauren [Kribell] were outstanding,” Western Coach Steve Franks said.

Kahawai, who made an immediate impact last season when the team doubled its win total from the previous season, is happy to see his team become a perennial playoff contender.

“Getting to the CIF playoffs is a great accomplishment for them,” Kahawai said. “Hopefully this puts Corona del Mar girls’ basketball on the map with the school’s other teams that have continual success. We want to make sure everyone knows we put out 100% every night.”

Franks was impressed.

“Corona del Mar is a classy team,” he said. “Their consistent hustle gave us problems. They always seemed to get to the ball before us.”

CIF Southern Section

Division III-AA

First round

Western 53,

Corona del Mar 47

Score by Quarters