Sailors unravel in third quarter

Barry Faulkner

ANAHEIM -- So much for a coach’s intuition.

But at least the hunch Newport Harbor High boys basketball head

man Larry Hirst carried all day that his Sailors were ready to knock

off unbeaten El Toro in the quarterfinals of the Holiday Basketball

Classic Thursday was nearly half right.

“I really thought we were so close to having a breakthrough game,”

Hirst said after El Toro, which Newport Harbor played close before

losing in the Bill Reynolds Tournament final Saturday, exploded in

the second half to trounce the Tars, 55-34, at the Anaheim Convention

Center.

The Sailors (5-2) bolted to an 11-2 lead and remained ahead until

a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer by El Toro senior guard

Patrick Carney put the Chargers (8-0) up, 21-20.

But a combination of strong El Toro defense and some sloppy play

by the Sailors led to an 18-0 Charger run to start the second half,

effectively ending the contest and dropping Newport into today’s

fifth-place semifinal against either Villa Park or Esperanza. Today’s

game is 3 p.m. at the convention center.

Hirst was at a loss to explain the third-quarter collapse, though

he was quick to credit El Toro.

“(The Chargers) were playing defense the way it was meant to be

played,” said Hirst, who was backed up by El Toro Coach Todd Dixon.

“I thought our defense in the second half was the best we’ve

played all year,” said Dixon, whose team posted a 57-44 win over

Newport Harbor just six days prior. “We were getting in the passing

lanes and making steals and our good defense led to some easy offense

(transition baskets).

“Sometimes, when the game is in an arena, a team can get cold and

Newport Harbor got cold in that third quarter.”

The Sailors made just 2 of 6 third-quarter field goal attempts,

but shooting was the least of their worries. They collected half of

their 18 turnovers in a six-minute span in the period, before senior

center Nedim Pajevic ended a scoreless span of 7:29 with a 10-foot

jumper with 51 seconds left in the third quarter.

Pajevic scored a team-high 12 points and collected 11 rebounds,

but the Chargers, whose tallest starter is 6-5, effectively forced

him away from the low block where he is most dangerous.

Brett Lowenthal had four points and eight rebounds for Newport

Harbor, which finished just 14 of 46 from the field (30.4%). The 34

points were the fewest in 94 games for Newport.

Sophomore Darryl Best led three Chargers in double figures with 14

points, including 10 in the third quarter.