SEVENTH GRADE BOYS’ BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP:McCormack comes up big for Sea Kings

NEWPORT BEACH — At just over 5-foot-11, Andrew McCormack already stands tall for the Corona del Mar Middle School seventh-grade boys’ basketball team.

Add extra motivation into the mix, and McCormack is just scary.

He had game-highs of 24 points and 17 rebounds Thursday, leading the Sea Kings past Dwyer, 37-30, in the Coastal Athletic League playoff championship game at Ensign Intermediate School.

“It feels really good, because in volleyball our boys’ team went undefeated,” McCormack said. “Then, in the playoffs against Dwyer, they lost. It feels good to get back at them.”

The win capped a perfect season for CdM (8-0), which was also the league regular-season champions.

Sea Kings Coach John Joyce knows what to do with a tall kid like McCormack. Joyce, 6-7 himself, is a senior for the CdM High varsity boys’ team.

“I know what to do when we have big guys,” Joyce said. “I ran almost the same offense we run [at the high school], because we have two big guys [Joyce and Stefan Kaluz]. That worked the whole season. We pretty much blew everyone out, expect for Dwyer.”

The Sea Kings had only beaten Dwyer by two points in the regular season, and the Oilers, a faster team, did get their share of transition buckets Thursday. But the Sea Kings’ formula — pound McCormack and forward Sam Noe down low early and often — was a winning one.

CdM never trailed, jumping out to a 9-2 lead after a quarter. And, though Dwyer pulled to within one at halftime, McCormack and the Sea Kings opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run, stretching their lead to 23-16.

“We wanted to go down low and play hard,” said Noe, who finished with eight points and nine rebounds. “We want to get as many points as we can, as fast as we can.”

Dwyer rallied within two, at 29-27, on a driving layup by Johnnie Lane with four minutes left in the game.

But McCormack hit four consecutive free throws, giving CdM some breathing room.

“I’m just happy,” Noe said. “All the hard work paid off.”

Guard Michael Keasey had a first-quarter basket for the Sea Kings, guard Cole Cottrell had a steal and Matt English scored three points, all on free throws.

Also contributing to the championship effort were Brady Quon, Tanner Quon, Connor Ascher, Ryan Campbell, Matt Livingston, Alex Stecca and Billy Macdonald.

Coastal Athletic League

Seventh-grade Championship

Corona del Mar 37, Dwyer 30

Score by Quarters

Dwyer 2 12 6 10 — 30

CdM 9 6 11 11 — 37

Dwyer -- Aldana 11, Lane 9, Harris 7, West 2, Fay 1.

3-pt. goals -- None.

Fouled out -- Harris.

Corona del Mar -- McCormack 24, Noe 8, English 3, Keasey 2.

3-pt. goals -- None.