Cardinal rule dooms Eagles

COSTA MESA — Estancia High boys’ basketball coach Agustin Heredia said there was a trickle-down effect after a less-than-stellar opening to the Eagles’ CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA first-round playoff game against visiting Lawndale Wednesday.

Indeed the 47-36 loss to the Cardinals (12-15) continued a trend that saw a once-promising season twirl down the drain.

The setback, in which the Eagles (15-12) produced their season-low scoring output, extended the team’s season-ending losing streak to three.

It was the fewest points scored by an Estancia team since a 77-19 playoff setback to Renaissance Academy in 2008, a span of 56 games.

“Overall, we didn’t play well,” said Heredia, whose team made just 16 of 56 field-goal attempts (28.6%) and committed 19 turnovers.“[The Cardinals] are just a little more athletic and we didn’t respond. We didn’t come ready to play.”

Heredia, whose team missed all 14 of its three-point attempts, said taking care of the ball was the primary problem.

“I’m shocked we got 56 shots,” Heredia said. “It just seemed like every time we came down, we turned it over. We worked so hard, especially in the second quarter, on the defensive end. And we hung in there with the rebounding. We’d create a turnover and give it right back.”

Lawndale managed a mere 35-34 advantage on the boards and had 18 turnovers.

But after the Eagles took a 32-31 lead on a driving layin by Kevin Thomas with 6:47 left in the game, Lawndale began a 14-2 deluge with an 8-0 spurt that washed away any chance of an Estancia victory.

Estancia led three different times, the first two at 3-2 and 28-27, the latter after a 9-0 surge that included a pair of buckets by junior Devon Joyner and four points from senior Wes Shaw.

Joyner, who finished with 10 rebounds, shared team-high scoring laurels with Shaw, who added three rebounds.

Thomas had eight points, three rebounds and three assists while senior Kohl Jones had six rebounds in his first appearance since missing the final four regular-season games with torn ligaments in his left ankle.

Jones, who started, practiced Monday and Tuesday, but could not finish practice, Heredia said.

“[Jones] gave us what he had,” Heredia said. “He ran out of gas, but I don’t think that was a factor.”

Junior Raymond Holmes gave the Eagles their first lead by completing a three-point play in transition in the opening minute.

Estancia was down, 13-5, late in the opening period, before charging back to tie it when senior Ryan Cherney netted a 12-foot jumper with 7:11 left in the opening half.

After Cherney’s bucket, both teams failed to score for more than four minutes.

Finally, a layup by Trayveon Barrett put the visitors on top and halted a Lawndale scoreless streak that lasted just more than seven minutes.

The two teams then traded a pair of buckets, before the Cardinals, an at-large entry from the Pioneer League, closed the half on a 6-0 run.

Lawndale, which eliminated Estancia in a 72-71 first-round playoff win at home last season, opened the second-half scoring and twice led by eight points early in the third quarter.

But Estancia’s shift from a man-to-man defense to a zone, helped slow the Cardinals, who went scoreless for a four-minute span, until Bryan Rivers made a layup to put them ahead, 29-28, with 2:28 left in the third period.

“I just plain think we were exposed,” Heredia said. “I think the things that we were deficient in, were highlighted today.”

Heredia, whose team won five straight Orange Coast League games after a league-opening loss and entered the final week of the regular season in the driver’s seat to claim the program’s first league crown since 2005, said it was difficult to assess the season so soon after it had ended.

“It’s tough right now, because I really felt we could have won this game,” Heredia said. “Overall, I feel good . The senior group started with 22 kids [as freshmen] and we have six guys in that locker room that I have got to go in there and say goodbye to. I just really appreciate them hanging in there.”

Estancia was just four of nine from the foul line.

Lawndale was just two of two on free throws, until it hit four of six in the final 61 seconds.

Lawndale, the No. 12 seed, advances to Friday’s second round.

CIF Division IV-AA First round

Lawndale 47, Estancia 36

SCORE BY QUARTERS

L – Beatty 12, Hardaway 10, Barrett 8, Rivers 6, Pearsall 6, Muniz 3, Gray 2.

3-pt. goals – Muniz 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Est – Joyner 10, Shaw 10, Thomas 8, Holmes 6, Cherney 2.

3-pt. goals – None.

Fouled out – None.