Boys’ Basketball: CdM drops to fourth in PCL

Repeating as the Pacific Coast League champion now seems insurmountable for the Corona del Mar High boys’ basketball team.

The Sea Kings entered Tuesday with a chance to move within a game of first place. Beat Northwood and CdM is back in contention for a league crown.

It didn’t pan out that way for the Sea Kings. They now find themselves three games back of the Timberwolves, who remained perfect in league with a 66-58 win.

Northwood closed out the first round of league 5-0, knocking off the defending champions on their home court. The Sea Kings dropped to 2-3 and fourth place.

“It’s an uphill climb,” CdM Coach Ryan Schachter said of the Sea Kings’ chances of catching the Timberwolves. “There’s a chance, but it’s going to be tough. I don’t see them going to 2-3 in the second round of league. They’re good. They make plays. We struggle sometimes to make plays on the offensive end.”

Those two things — CdM’s lack of offense and Northwood’s high shooting percentage — were evident down the stretch. The Sea Kings missed their final three shots and four of their final five free throws, while the Timberwolves shot 58.3% in the fourth quarter.

The player who carried Northwood (17-5 overall), ranked No. 6 in the CIF Southern Section Division 2A poll, in the final eight minutes was Jake Linsky. The 6-foot-7 senior recorded 13 of his 20 points in the fourth.

The Timberwolves went to Linsky, even though he wasn’t himself in the first three quarters, making only two of 11 shots. The Sea Kings (15-7 overall), ranked No. 7 in Division 3A, defended Linsky well, throwing multiple bodies his way.

Linsky turned it on when it mattered, in the fourth. He made a jumper, a layup, a hook shot, a three-pointer, and four free throws. Linsky, who added 10 rebounds and three blocks, either tied the game, or gave Northwood the lead.

Out of all of Linsky’s shots in the fourth, he took seven, the last one was the biggest. Mike Maragay was able to get the ball to Linsky, before he lost his balance in the paint. Maragay passed the ball to a wide-open Linsky behind the three-point line. From the top, Linsky nailed it, putting the Timberwolves up, 61-58, with 1:23 to go.

“Matt [Ctvrtlik] left him on a loose ball,” Schachter said. “When you’re guarding their best player, you can’t leave him for a loose ball because it’s not worth it.”

The Sea Kings gambled again with 35 seconds left.

After seeing CdM misfire on a three-pointer and two free throws in the next 16 seconds, Northwood found another wide-open player, Devin Owens.

“Robert [Cuevas] went for a suicide steal and [Owens] hits a three in the corner,” Schachter said of the shot that gave the Timberwolves a 64-58 lead.

Through five games in league, CdM has one more loss than it compiled in league in the previous two seasons.

The setbacks leave the Sea Kings two games back of second-place Beckman (4-1 in league) and one back of third-place University (3-2). A slow start didn’t help CdM against Northwood.

From the first 17 seconds, it appeared CdM was off to a good night. Sam Kobrine, who finished with 12 points, stole the ball and dribbled the other way, converting a layup while a defender fouled him. Kobrine completed the three-point play.

In the rest of the first quarter, CdM couldn’t make a field goal.

The Sea Kings missed eight straight shots and they fell behind, 15-6. Schachter wasn’t all too pleased, especially with Northwood taking 19 shots, nine more than CdM, in the first eight minutes. The Timberwolves generated second-chance opportunities by grabbing offensive rebounds.

The momentum shifted in the second quarter, though. D.J. Rodman and Ctvrtlik scored eight and five points, respectively, and Cuevas and Ben Coffman each came up with a steal that resulted in points, allowing CdM to catch Northwood. Rodman drained a three-pointer and the Sea Kings tied it at 20-20 midway through the second quarter.

The Sea Kings, who outscored Northwood, 22-12, in the second quarter, went into halftime with a 28-27 lead. They fought their way back, and the second half was a back-and-fourth battle.

The second half featured 19 lead changes, 11 in the fourth quarter. Rodman, who led CdM with 14 points, three more than Ctvrtlik, gave the Sea Kings a 55-54 lead with a layup with 3:07 remaining. Forty-two seconds later, Linsky’s two free throws put Northwood back in front.

Taeveon Le responded for CdM 16 seconds later, converting a layup while the Timberwolves fouled him. Le was unable to complete the three-point play at the line, and the Sea Kings led, 57-56.

The rest of the way, CdM managed one point, on a Cuevas free throw, giving him eight points off the bench. The Sea Kings only made six of 13 free throws in the fourth, while Northwood made each of its five attempts from the charity stripe. Linsky had four of them and Akshay Harishankar (19 points) had the other to complete a three-point play with 4:48 left.

“It’s nice to start off the first half of league 5-0, but we’re not done yet,” said Linsky, one of three Northwood players in double figures, the third was Jacob Huynh (13 points). “They really took us out of our comfort zone. We didn’t play the right way pretty much the first three quarters. This was probably one of the hardest games I’ve played in my four years at Northwood.”

—

Pacific Coast League

Northwood 66, Corona del Mar 58

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Northwood 15 – 12 – 18 – 21 — 66

Corona del Mar 6 – 22 – 16 – 14— 58

NW – Linsky 20, Harishankar 19, Huynh 13, Owens 7, Maragay 5, Sigurdarson 2.

3-pt. goals – Harishankar 3, Huynh 2, Linsky 1, Owens 1, Maragay 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

CdM – Rodman 14, Kobrine 12, Ctvrtlik 11, Cuevas 8, Coffman 6, Le 4, Haly 3.

3-pt. goals – Ctvrtlik 2, Rodman 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.