CdM falls to Loyola in semis

HUNTINGTON BEACH — It took just three plays for Coach Ryan Schachter to figure out his Corona del Mar High boys’ basketball team on Friday.

“I knew we weren’t ready to play,” said Schachter, referring to the semifinals of the Ocean View Tournament of Champions, where the Sea Kings lost to Loyola of Los Angeles, 62-40.

“We didn’t show up.”

Two minutes in and Schachter saw how disinterested his players looked. The Sea Kings were on their way to a second semifinal loss at a major tournament in nine days.

The semis are where CdM (5-2) has dropped its two games of the season. Schachter could not explain his team’s latest lackluster effort.

The offense showed up for one quarter, the third. When the Sea Kings fought their way back, cutting the deficit to 11 points, the offense disappeared in the final eight minutes.

CdM managed only one field goal in the fourth quarter and finished with five points. The single-digit quarter was the second for the Sea Kings on the night.

“It was a ballgame. We were ready to go,” Schachter said he thought with the Sea Kings trailing Loyola, 46-35, heading into the fourth. “We didn’t finish the game. You’re not going to win playing one out of four quarters.”

The Sea Kings return to the same gym today to play in the third-place game at 5:30 p.m. If CdM believed Loyola (4-2) was tough, the Sea Kings have another strong team from the Mission League, Crespi of Encino, next.

“If we don’t show up to play, it’s going to look a lot like it did [Friday],” said Schachter before explaining why it turned out so bad against the Cubs. “We didn’t make the right plays. We missed a lot of layups. We missed a lot of free throws. We missed a lot of threes.”

The missed scoring opportunities added up to CdM’s lowest point total for a game.

The opening quarter featured more turnovers than points. The Sea Kings’ first points came with less than three minutes left in the first quarter.

Despite erratic offensive play, CdM took a lead, its first. Danny Cheek, who led CdM with 12 points, knocked down a jumper atop the free-throw line.

The lead lasted just 31 seconds as the Sea Kings went the next 4 minutes, 20 seconds without any points.

The Cubs took advantage, going on an 11-0 run to jump ahead, 16-6. The Sea Kings’ defense let Loyola Joe Stein get open looks and he buried jumpers, finishing with a game-high 20 points.

When Stein missed a shot, no one boxed out for CdM. The Cubs got second-chance opportunities and converted many of them, helping Loyola reach the title game against Foothill.

“We got killed on the boards,” Schachter said of an area in which he believed the Sea Kings had an advantage over the Cubs. “We’re bigger than they are. We are more athletic than they are. But when you don’t show up to compete, it’s going to look bad. It looked pretty bad.”

Ocean View Tournament of Champions

Semifinal

Loyola 62, Corona del Mar 40

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CdM 6 – 10 – 19 – 5 — 40

Loyola 12 – 19 – 15 – 16 — 62

CdM – Cheek 12, Bradley 8, Ragsdale 8, Haly 4, McCormack 4, Ayzin 3, Jackosky 1.

3-pt. goals – Cheek 1, Ragsdale 1, Ayzin 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

L – Stein 20, Harrell 12, Jackson-Cartwright 7, Paton 6, Amah 4, Childress 4, Hazzard 4, Oti 3, Jones 2.

3-pt. goals – Stein 2, Oti 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.