Boys basketball: CdM wins at the wire

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - The Corona del Mar High boys basketball team rode its

thoroughbred in the fourth quarter, but it was a plow horse which got the

Sea Kings to the stretch.

CdM senior Joel Templeton, a 6-foot-7 center, scored 12 of his

career-high 17 points in the first half and also turned visiting Notre

Dame of Sherman Oaks away repeatedly at the defensive end.

But, even with Templeton’s talents, which included eight rebounds and

three blocked shots, CdM was down, 49-43, with 6:59 remaining in

Tuesday’s CIF Southern Section Division III-AA quarterfinal at Estancia

High.

That’s when 6-4 senior Kevin Hansen, who has, at times, carried the Sea

Kings this season, took control.

Hansen an All-CIF performer on last year’s III-A finalist, scored 11 of

the next 13 CdM points (Templeton got the other two) to propel the No.

3-seeded Pacific Coast League champions to a 57-55 victory.

The win moves CdM (22-6) into Friday’s semifinals, against either

second-seeded San Dimas or Centennial of Compton.

Hansen began his fourth-quarter heroics with a three-pointer to trim the

deficit to 49-46. He then netted a 12-footer and somehow connected on a

high-arcing Hail Mary from 10 feet, as he floated beyond the baseline and

behind the backboard to put CdM ahead, 50-49, with 4:34 left.

Templeton made it a 9-0 run with a left-handed layin and, after a Notre

Dame free throw, Hanson drilled a three-pointer from the left corner to

give CdM a 55-51 edge with 48 seconds left.

The Knights (22-7) cut the lead in half with two foul shots, then had to

deliver four straight fouls to put CdM in the bonus.

But the fourth such foul was committed against Hansen, who sank the front

end of the one-and-one to make it a three-point edge.

Two more Notre Dame free throws followed with 19 seconds left and CdM ate

12 seconds off the clock, before the visitors could foul Brooks Morris

with seven ticks left.

Morris made the first, but Notre Dame rebounded the second, allowing

senior guard Darin Barton to launch a three-point attempt from the top of

the key.

But Hansen, who added nine rebounds, swooped in and swatted the shot back

toward midcourt as the buzzer sounded, triggering a wild celebration by

the winners.

“That was a great high school basketball game,” CdM Coach Paul Orris

said. “This is what you coach for.”

Orris said there was no pregame emphasis on attacking Notre Dame’s inside

defense, but Templeton took it upon himself to do just that.

“That’s the most assertive I’ve seen Joel and when he hit a couple shots,

it was like a shark with blood in the water,” said Orris, who also

praised Hansen’s performance.

“We’ve ridden that horse a few times this year, haven’t we,” he asked,

rhetorically of the Stanford-bound volleyball setter.

Notre Dame did not get a field goal the final 6:59, while CdM made 5 of 7

from the field in the final period to finish 51% (24 of 47).

Michael Luderer hit four three-pointers to pace the Knights with 21

points.