Sea Kings deny Palm Springs

CORONA DEL MAR — Just a matter of time and Corona del Mar High’s John Joyce expected a meltdown.

Joyce punished Palm Springs throughout, using his 6-foot-7, 230-pound frame to get to nine offensive rebounds. One of the handful of players 10 inches shorter than Joyce had enough.

Joyce found himself tangled up with DeAndre Goree after crashing to the floor for a rebound late. On top, Joyce tried to rise after the referee called Goree for a foul, but Goree appeared agitated.

Joyce and the fourth-seeded Sea Kings were on their way to a 70-52 victory and advancing out of the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division III-A playoffs.

Goree was closer to the ground, knowing No. 15 Palm Springs couldn’t dig itself out of a hole at CdM Friday.

So Goree jostled with Joyce. When Joyce stood up, the 5-9 Goree pushed Joyce so hard that the forward stumbled toward the home bleachers.

Joyce had to be restrained after Goree was ejected from the game. Good thing the Sea Kings (19-7) stopped the senior, because they’ll need him in the quarterfinals at Elsinore (16-13) of Wildomar Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

“At first I wanted to go after him,” said Joyce, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. “But then I was like, ‘I don’t want to hurt the team.’ I knew we got games to play and I don’t want to sit out the next game.

“I’ve never been here before. We haven’t won CIF since 1995, and this year we have a really good shot. Everyone is buying into this and we can do this.”

For the first time since the 1999-2000 season, the Sea Kings will receive their first taste of quarterfinal action. It will come against an Elsinore program that boasts size, too.

Unlike Palm Springs (18-8), but CdM learned that size can only get you so far. With Joyce and 6-9 center Stefan Kaluz abusing Palm Springs in the paint, CdM only led, 48-41, heading into the final quarter.

Palm Springs played physical. The times it didn’t hammer away at Joyce, Kaluz received blows. The junior withstood them, finishing with a game-high 25 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks.

Pleased to see Kaluz keep his cool, first-year CdM Coach Ryan Schachter was thrilled his other big man didn’t retaliate.

“Who knows? Maybe a month or two ago we would’ve been fighting back and John might have been suspended,” said Schachter, who saw Kaluz get ejected from a game in January after receiving two technical fouls in a game that forced him to sit out the next game. “That just speaks volumes for how we’ve progressed. The guys have really … matured.

“It was by far [John’s] best game of the year, and what a better time to have it.”

Joyce came out fired up, no rust after CdM received a first-round bye.

He scored six points, lifting his team to a 17-4 lead. He took advantage of single coverage early as Palm Springs double-teamed Kaluz any chance he touched the ball near the paint.

Then the defense collapsed on both big men, forcing others to beat Palm Springs. It worked, as CdM only took a 30-26 advantage into halftime.

When the opportunities came up for others to contribute in the second half, guard Eddie Lane and forward Joe Eberhard attacked. The two finished with 13 and nine points, respectively, with Eberhard adding nine rebounds.

Kaluz waited for teammates to step up, but he understood why it took time. By then Palm Springs Coach Dennis Zink said his team was worn out by having to defend Kaluz and Joyce.

“Not a lot of guys have playoff experience,” said Kaluz, who made 12 of 18 field goals. “John played a great game. We wouldn’t have been able to do what we did without him.

“He did a great job controlling himself. I’ve been there. I’ve made the mistake before. I’m happy that he held his composure. Anytime you have a situation like that anything can happen.”

CIF Southern Section

Division III-A Playoffs

Second Round

Corona del Mar 70,

Palm Springs 52

Score by Quarters

Palm Springs 9 17 15 11 — 52

CdM 17 13 18 22 — 70

Palm Springs -- Brown 18, Wilder 9, Helton 8, Goree 6, Anderson 5, Avrette 4, Murrell 2 .

3-pt. goals -- Brown 2, Anderson 1, Helton 1.

Fouled out -- Goree.

Technicals -- Goree.

Corona del Mar -- Kaluz 25, Lane 13, Joyce 12, Eberhard 9, Evett 5, Donovan 4, Anderson 2.

3-pt. goals -- Donovan 1, Lane 1.