Newport Harbor Turns Up Heat

No one present could remember the last time Newport Harbor advanced into a boys’ basketball tournament final, so excuse Coach Larry Hirst for freezing in his tracks when he was asked that question after the Sailors ran their record to 4-0 Friday night at the Edison International Tournament.

Best guess is, it may have been sometime in the mid-1980s, which made Newport Harbor’s 88-79 semifinal victory over Trabuco Hills in the refrigerator-like, nearly empty Anaheim Convention Center that much more pleasing.

Hirst has done yeoman’s work in redirecting the Sailor program.

“He has a very nice team, a very physical team,” said Trabuco Hills Coach Rainer Wulf. “They’re definitely a top-10 team, No question about it.”

Newport Harbor, behind eight points from Dustin Illingworth, jumped to a 29-13 first-quarter lead, then made all 10 free throws in the final 1 minute 10 seconds of the game to stave off a Mustang comeback.

Illingworth finished with a game-high 23 points and eight rebounds for the Sailors and Alan Limon scored 21 thanks to nine of 10 shooting from the line. Brandon Martin had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Evan Fields had 20 points and Brendon Martin 16 points for the Mustangs (3-2).

Hirst, who wore a sweater and said he wished he had brought gloves to combat the drafty, unheated arena, knows that the resurgent Sailors will have their hands full tonight at 8 with another hot team, Brea Olinda, which beat Villa Park, 54-47, in the other semifinal. But just the same, he said, it’s nice to get this far after a long drought.

“This is a big accomplishment for these kids,” Hirst said.

The Sailors were ahead, 12-2, less than two minutes into the game and looked as if they were going to make it a runaway.

But Trabuco Hills closed strong, trailing by one point at halftime.

When 6-foot-6 Brendon Martin made a three-pointer early in the third period, Trabuco Hills had its first lead, 45-43.

But that was short-lived. The Sailors, thanks to five free throws, took a 54-49 lead with 4:19 left in the quarter and the Mustangs eventually ran out of gas.

In other tournament games:

Brea Olinda 54, Villa Park 47--Brea took a 10-2 lead, but stubborn Villa Park wouldn’t go away. The Spartans clawed back to within three points several times in the final two minutes, but got no closer. Guard Kyle Dodd scored 23 points for the Wildcats and swingman Tim Pagano scored 18. Rick Boehm had 10 rebounds.

“We’ll have our hands full against Newport Harbor,” first-year Brea Olinda Coach Bob Terry said. “They’re a very good team. Of course, we feel that if we play the way we are capable of, we can beat anybody, but tonight we didn’t play that way and we got away with it.”

Matt MacGinnis, one of three sophomore starters for Villa Park, led the Spartans with 14 points.

Sonora 70, Magnolia 50--Marqui Worthy’s 28 points led Sonora in the consolation game. Bim Okunrinboye had an excellent all-around game with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.