Boys’ Basketball: CdM takes first place in PCL

IRVINE — Corona del Mar High and Northwood went into Tuesday with identical records. The one that mattered most was which boys’ basketball program would remain perfect in the Pacific Coast League.

The teams had to wait a little extra time to take the court, as there was a 19-minute delay to tip-off. The girls’ game went into overtime.

Thirty-two minutes was all the time needed to decide who would take sole possession of first place in the main event on the night.

Once the contest began, CdM took the lead and it never relinquished it. Things did get interesting late, with Northwood cutting the deficit to three, but Kevin Kobrine helped CdM hold off the defending league champion.

The junior finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in the Sea Kings’ 59-52 win. They improved to 5-0 in league, quite a turnaround from last season’s first round record in league.

“We’re real happy to be 5-0 right now,” said CdM Coach Ryan Schachter, whose team closed out the first part of league last season 2-3. “We could easily be 3-2. [Our game last week with] Woodbridge and this game were tight. We’ve got to do a better job closing out games when we have leads.”

The Sea Kings, who are 16-6 overall and ranked No. 12 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1A poll, extended the lead to 53-38 midway through the fourth quarter. Kobrine was a big reason why, scoring seven points and blocking a shot during CdM’s 11-1 run.

Kobrine made his first three shots in the fourth, all in the paint, and Chase Garbers and JT Schwartz each had a hook shot. But Northwood responded, producing 12 straight points to get within, 53-50, with 1:59 to go.

Jacob Huynh (19 points), Devin Owens (12) and Akshay Harishankar (12) led the comeback, each scoring four points during the run.

“We decided to just turn it over four times [during a 2½-minute span] to make it interesting,” Schachter said. “We threw it out of bounds once. We threw it out of bounds twice.”

After seeing Northwood (15-7, 4-1 in league) capitalize on the Sea Kings’ fourth turnover, Schachter called a timeout with 1:34 left. The Sea Kings went to Kobrine, and he delivered.

The 6-foot-3 Kobrine drove to his right, and while Owens fouled him, he made a layup falling down. Kobrine, who missed the free throw, pushed the lead to 55-50 at the 1:26 mark.

With 39 seconds remaining, Huynh got the Timberwolves within three with a drive to the basket. The Sea Kings fouled him, and Huynh could have made it a two-point game, but he missed a free throw.

Northwood, No. 13 in Division 2AA, would never score again, as Kobrine and DJ Rodman finished the Timberwolves by converting two free throws each down the stretch. The Sea Kings ended the Timberwolves’ 14-game winning streak in league.

“It’s obviously a great win. We lost to them twice last year,” said Kobrine, who made nine of 13 shots. “This is one of our best wins of the season.”

Kobrine and Rodman, who finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, carried the load for CdM. They accounted for 42 of the team’s 59 points.

They were the reasons for CdM coming out on fire. With a little more than three minutes into the game, Kobrine scored six points and CdM took an 11-3 lead. The visitors made eight of 12 shots in the opening quarter, and they led, 21-11.

Rodman had nine points in the first quarter, while Kobrine had eight points. They only missed one field goal each in the first eight minutes, combining to go six of eight from the field.

The Sea Kings went into halftime ahead, 32-23. Their zone defense created issues for Northwood, which shot 35.7% from the field in the first half.

“I thought we dominated the paint,” Schachter said. “DJ [is] a heck of a player. He hit some big shots. Kevin had a huge game. I think he has scored in double figures in probably the last 15 or 16 games for us. With both of those guys, it’s a pretty good one-two [punch] for us.”

Pacific Coast League

Corona del Mar 59, Northwood 52

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CdM 21 – 11 – 10– 17 — 59

Northwood 11 – 12 – 14 – 15 — 52

CdM – Kobrine 24, Rodman 18, Humphreys 7, Haly 4, Garbers 4, Schwartz 2.

3-pt. goals – Rodman 3, Humphreys 1, Kobrine 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

NW – Huynh 19, Owens 12, Harishankar 12, Pintor 4, Carrig 3, Johnson 2.

3-pt. goals – Owens 2, Huynh 1, Carrig 1.

Fouled out – Harishankar.

Technicals – None.