Boys’ Basketball: CdM opens tourney with win
WESTMINSTER — Corona del Mar High and Bellflower seem to keep running into each other at the start of boys’ basketball tournaments. In half of the last four tournaments CdM has played in, it has opened against Bellflower.
Before reaching the CIF Southern Section Division 3A finals last season, the Sea Kings ended Bellflower’s season last February in the first round. Ten months later, the two programs met again.
Not as much was at stake on Tuesday, when CdM and Bellflower began the Charlie Wilkins Memorial Tournament at Westminster High, but the Sea Kings easily topped the Buccaneers yet again.
The same player who led the way in the last matchup between the two programs stood out once more. Sam Kobrine recorded 12 of his 15 points in the first half, leading CdM to a 64-53 win.
Kobrine made three three-pointers in the first half, and CdM (5-2), ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Division 3A preseason poll, had nine threes at the break.
“I was a little nervous only being up 11 after hitting nine threes,” said CdM Coach Ryan Schachter, whose team went into halftime with a 38-27 lead.
Matt Ctvrtlik helped calm his coach down in the third quarter.
The senior made a three-pointer, his fourth in the game, with about 3½ minutes left in the third. The shot from behind the arc sparked a 9-2 run, allowing CdM to go in the fourth quarter with a 53-35 lead.
The Sea Kings didn’t need Ctvrtlik’s services in the final eight minutes. Ctvrtlik appreciated the rest since he said he’s dealing with a sore right calf, which he sustained during the team’s fourth-place finish at the CdM Beach Bash last week.
“It’s healing,” Ctvrtlik said of his calf. “We’re not as deep as we were last year. [Playing five games in six days during our tournament] took a little bit of a toll, but we’re bouncing back.”
The Sea Kings (5-2) snapped a two-game losing streak, getting contributions from several sources. Ten of their 15 players scored at least two points.
Only five players scored for Bellflower (2-3), which isn’t at full strength. Coach Chris Childress said his team is missing three starters, two of which are junior transfers. Childress said Keith Stacy, a 6-foot-4 transfer from Cerritos Gahr, and Steven Brewer, a transfer from Paramount, have to sit out the first 30 days of the season because of section transfer rules.
“It’s tough,” Childress said of playing without Stacy and Brewer, as well as Kevin Laws, a sophomore guard who isn’t eligible to play until January, “but we have to hold it down until they get back.”
Two of the three players reaching double figures for Bellflower played in last season’s 63-36 blowout loss at CdM. Felix Edwards and Jeremiah Morehead led the Buccaneers in scoring in the previous contest, and they did so again.
Edwards poured in 17 points in the fourth quarter, accounting for all but one of the team’s points in the final quarter. The senior finished with 21 points and Morehead added 12 points.
The only quarter in which the Buccaneers outscored CdM in was the fourth, when Schachter mostly played his reserves. Chase Garbers and Ben Coffman came off the bench and contributed six points apiece, and Mitch Haly had five points.
“It was a good win for us,” said Schachter, whose team’s next pool-play game in the 10-team tournament is on Thursday against Montebello Schurr (2-7) at 6:30 p.m. “I thought we executed really well.”
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Charlie Wilkins Memorial Tournament
Pool play
Corona del Mar 64, Bellflower 53
SCORE BY QUARTERS
BF 16 – 11 – 8 – 18 — 53
CdM 19 – 19 – 15 – 11— 64
BF – Edwards 21, Morehead 12, McCorkle 10, Odudu 7, Lewis 3.
3-pt. goals – Edwards 3, McCorkle 2, Lewis 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
CdM – Ctvrtlik 18, S. Kobrine 15, Coffman 6, Garbers 6, Haly 5, Le 4, Walker 4, Borquez 2, Johnson 2, K. Kobrine 2.
3-pt. goals – Ctvrtlik 4, S. Kobrine 3, Coffman 2, Le 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
