Estancia will play for title

Bryce Alderton

Through the first three games of the Estancia Coast Classic, the host

Eagles’ boys basketball team has known one thing: how to hold a lead.

Estancia continued its undefeated tournament run with a 49-35

muffling of Riverside Poly, the designated home team, Monday night in

the semifinals, marking the third straight game the Eagles have led

from start to finish.

The Eagles will attempt to win the tournament title for the first

time since 1997 when they take on Mayfair tonight at 8.

The Eagles (8-4) did it with defense, holding the Bears (9-4) to

just two points in the first quarter, en route to building a 14-2

lead. Riverside Poly missed its first 13 shots and finished the first

half shooting 7 of 28 from the field (25%). The Bears shot 25.9% from

the field for the game (15 for 58).

“Not having shots fall can be deflating, especially when we hit

ours,” Estancia Coach Russell King said of the Eagles’ fast start.

“We wanted to come out in a zone because the half-court offense is

[the Bears’] bread and butter.”

The Eagles countered by hitting 11 of 19 first-half field-goal

attempts to build a 32-15 lead the intermission. Estancia shot 16 of

31 from the field for the game (51.6%).

Junior forward Carlos Pinto led all scorers with 17 points on

4-of-7 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds while starting sophomore

Mike McDaniels tallied 12 points to go with five rebounds.

Senior center Scott Sankey scored 11 points and grabbed 11

rebounds, helping limit Riverside Poly to one-shot possessions for a

majority of the first half with aggressiveness on the boards. The

Eagles held a 31-21 rebounding edge.

“That was huge,” King said of the rebounding advantage. “It is a

tribute to our defense.”

Sophomore reserve guard Shaun Markley came off the bench to hit

two three-pointers to finish with six points and three assists.

King inserted Markley, Ray Verette and Dallas Kopp at the

beginning of the second quarter to provide smothering defense and the

Eagles’ maintained their lead.

Estancia began the second quarter on a 9-4 run, getting two threes

from Pinto and one from Markley, to build a 23-6 lead with five

minutes, one second to go in the first half.

“It’s a tribute to our bench that we preserved the lead,” King

said.

The Eagles’ first field goal of the second half didn’t come until

Sankey converted a layup off one of Hugo Escobedo’s four assists with

5:18 to go in the quarter. But the Eagles still led by 19 as the

Bears couldn’t find their shooting touch.

The Bears’ full-court press at the start the second half rattled

the Eagles initially, but wasn’t enough to show them down

consistently.

“It took us out of what we wanted to run, but we were still able

to jump stop, find the open man and look ahead for easy layups,” King

said.

The Eagles’ biggest lead came at 45-25 when Markley hit a three

with 7:21 left. Estancia wouldn’t score for the next 4:13, but still

managed to lead by 18 when McDaniels hit a short jumper off a Pinto

assist.

“We kept [the Bears] in a slow game instead of a fast one, because

we are not as quick as them,” Sankey said about limiting the Bears’

offense. “[Monday] we played more as a team and our defense was

really good.”

Jose Viramontes scored two points for the Eagles while Sankey

added three assists and a block.

Junior forward Tyler Krieger led Riverside Poly -- former school

of Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller -- with 10 points, the only Bear

to score in double figures.

Playing in front of the home crowd has benefited the Eagles so

far, Sankey said.

“We are pumped up,” Sankey said.

*--*

Estancia Coast Classic

Semifinal Estancia 49, Riverside Poly 35

Score by Quarters

Estancia 14 18 10 7 -- 49

R. Poly 2 13 10 10 -- 35

Estancia -- Pinto 17, Sankey 11, McDaniels

12, Viramontes 2, Escobedo 1, Markley 3,

Meissner 0, Kopp 0, Verette 0, Young 0, Salas

0. 3-pt. goals -- Pinto 2, McDaniels 2,

Markley 2. Fouled out -- None. Technicals --

None. Riverside Poly -- Krieger 10, Lopez 7,

Stadler 6, Bash 4, Chester 4, Grifin 2, Brunt

2, Drachslin 0, Anderson 0, Helgeson 0,

Nguyen 0, Stadler 0, Caravolho 0. 3-pt. goals

-- Lopez 1. Fouled out -- None. Technicals --

None.

*--*