CdM boys’ basketball rallies to stun Newport Harbor

A back-and-forth game between the rival Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor high school boys’ basketball teams would ultimately be decided by who could finish.

The Sea Kings did, upsetting the host Sailors 59-53 on Friday night in a Surf League game.

CdM junior guard Jack Stone scored a game-high 22 points, and Newport Harbor (21-3, 1-2 in league) lost its second straight game. CdM (17-6, 2-1) moved into a first-place tie with Edison halfway through league play. The Chargers lost to Los Alamitos on Friday.

“I’m not really happy about the Battle of the Bay aspect, it’s just getting the win,” Stone said. “We’ve had a couple of tough games, but everyone contributed today and it showed. We just played hard on defense, and it showed by the score … We know that if we’re hitting our shots and playing defense, we can compete with anyone.”

With CdM up by one in the final minute of the game, the Sea Kings ran the clock down before senior guard Jake Hamilton made a three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining, giving the visitors a 57-53 lead.

Newport Harbor, ranked No. 9 in CIF Southern Section Division 2AA, missed a three-pointer on the other end before CdM junior John Humphreys was fouled with five seconds remaining. He made both ends of the one-and-one, and the Sea Kings had their final six-point margin of victory.

Hamilton made two threes in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 points. CdM junior forward Ethan Garbers had six points, including another three-pointer in the fourth quarter, and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

“Wasn’t it a great high school game?” CdM coach Ryan Schachter said. “I mean, they got up, we got up, they got up. We got stops and rebounds, and Garbers was huge on the boards. It’s hard to keep [Dayne] Chalmers off the boards for the full game, but Garbers was huge and we executed our sets. I felt like the things we called and we ran, we executed. It was great.”

Chalmers finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Sailors and was stellar defensively on Humphreys, who picked up two fouls in the first quarter and finished with nine points on three-of-13 shooting.

Sophomore guard Adam Garza scored five points off the bench for the Sea Kings, and senior guard Connor Schimmelpfennig had two layups in the fourth quarter.

Newport Harbor High’s Sam Barela slams it home after a steal during a Surf League game against Corona del Mar on Friday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Senior point guard Sam Barela led Newport Harbor with 15 points, and Levi Darrow added 11. Darrow’s three-point play gave Newport Harbor a 49-46 lead with 3:01 to go, before the Sea Kings finished the game on a 13-4 run.

“Hopefully our guys learn a little bit,” said Sailors coach Bob Torribio, whose team will close out the regular season at CdM on Jan. 30. “The seniors are probably having a hard time accepting the defeat right now, but we play Monday, so next-game mentality … [The Sea Kings] are very well-coached. Coach Schachter does a great job, their kids play hard and they execute. Give them credit. They drew up a play, and [Hamilton] made a great shot.”

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Surf League

Corona del Mar 59, Newport Harbor 53

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Corona del Mar 11 – 18 – 13 – 17 — 59

Newport Harbor 16 – 8 – 16 – 13 — 53

CdM – Stone 22, Hamilton 11, Humphreys 9, Garbers 6, Garza 5, Schimmelpfennig 4, Olson 2.

3-pt. goals – Stone 3, Hamilton 3, Humphreys 1, Garbers 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

NH – Barela 15, Darrow 11, Chalmers 10, Spooner 9, Harvey 7, Silva 1.

3-pt. goals – Barela 2, Darrow 2, Spooner 2, Harvey 2.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

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