Joyner comes to rescue

COSTA MESA — During the fourth quarter it seemed Davon Joyner was mired in a funk. But the Estancia High junior waited until the final second to redeem himself and lift his boys’ basketball team to an emotional victory.

Joyner made good on a driving layup at the buzzer to give the Eagles a 57-55 win over Dimond of Anchorage, Alaska in the consolation quarterfinals of the Estancia Coast Classic Monday.

“I was excited because I knew I kind of played bad in the fourth quarter,” Joyner said of his game-winner. “To come back with that, that was a big shot. [In the fourth quarter] I wasn’t boxing out and I wasn’t hustling back on defense.”

With 41 seconds left and Estancia (9-5) ahead, 54-53, Joyner was fouled hard while going up for a shot under his basket. It seemed difficult for him to recover from the foul and he missed his first free-throw attempt. He drained the second one, but it opened the door for Dimond to tie the score.

With 15 seconds left, the Lynx did just that, as Travis Thompson scored after his offensive rebound. Then with eight seconds left, after the Eagles pushed the ball to half court, Estancia called a timeout.

Coach Agustin Heredia drew up a play for senior Kohl Jones, who scored a game-high 20 points. After senior Kevin Thomas received the ball from the inbounds pass he looked for Jones, who was getting screens, but couldn’t get open. After Joyner set a screen, he ran toward Thomas near the free-throw line.

Thomas lobbed the ball to Joyner, who grabbed it after it was slightly tipped and then drove to the basket.

“That’s the type of shot we tell Davon not to take,” Heredia said of Joyner’s layup that was taken with a defender draped on him. “But in this case he had to and we love him for it.”

Joyner finished with 15 points. In addition to his missed free throw, he also committed two fouls in the fourth quarter and was playing with four fouls in the final 90 seconds.

“He was struggling,” Heredia said of Joyner. “We see a lot of potential in Davon and we get on him when he doesn’t play up to it. But he came through for us in the end.”

Heredia, whose team plays in a consolation semifinal today at 1:30 p.m., also took pride in the Eagles’ effort. Joyner wasn’t the only one earning redemption. Heredia liked the way Estancia bounced back from Saturday’s 46-45 loss to Laguna Hills in the first round.

Against Dimond, it appeared as if the Eagles were about to let another win slip away. Late in the third quarter, Joyner drained two free throws after he was intentionally fouled to give Estancia a 41-33 lead. But the Lynx responded with an 11-0 run that spanned about four minutes, ending the third quarter and spilling into the fourth.

However the Eagles answered back with an 8-2 spurt to regain control. Jones scored five points, which included a three-pointer, and he also recorded an assist to Wes Shaw, who connected for a three-pointer of his own.

“We came out hot [Saturday] and then stopped playing a little bit,” Jones said. “It feels good to bounce back and play hot the whole game ... I was extremely excited for the team and for Davon.”

Dimond Coach Rob Galosich said his team was expecting the ball to go Jones with eight seconds left. He said Joyner made a great shot.

It was a tough way to lose for the Lynx in only their second game of the season. Still, they are making the most of the trip, Galosich said. They watched the UCLA men’s basketball game beat Delaware State, 66-49, Sunday at Pauley Pavilion. And, today, they’re off to Disneyland after playing their consolation game in the morning. They also plan to visit Huntington Beach Pier during their stay.

“The hospitality is overwhelming and the basketball is fantastic,” Galosich said of the 16-team tournament. “It’s good to get out of Alaska when it’s 20 degrees and pitch black. It’s a big difference here.”