Boys’ Basketball: Sailors lose second-place battle in Sunset to Edison

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Out of all of the boys’ basketball teams in the Sunset League, one has had Newport Harbor High’s number in the past seven seasons.

Edison is the program the Sailors have been unable to beat in league during the stretch. That is 14 games between the Sailors and Chargers, all Edison wins.

Make that 15 in a row now for Edison against Newport Harbor.

The Chargers closed out the first part of league with a 68-55 victory at home on Wednesday, taking sole possession of second place.

The Chargers and Sailors went into the night tied for second, and the hosts stayed one game back of first-place Los Alamitos. Edison and Los Alamitos split the league title last season, and they open the second round of league on Friday.

The second showdown between the Chargers (18-4, 4-1 in league) and Los Alamitos (18-3, 5-0) will be at Edison. The first meeting went to the Griffins, who won at home, 61-51, on Jan. 8.

“If we want to win the league, obviously it’s a must-win for us,” Edison Coach Rich Boyce said. “In my opinion, they have the player of the year in [Orange County] in [UC Irvine-bound senior Eyassu] Worku. It’ll be a tough matchup for us, but we’re happy to have it and we’re happy to have it in front of our home fans. It should be exciting.”

The Edison crowd got into it on Wednesday. The contest featured two ranked teams in the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA poll, No. 2 Edison and No. 8 Newport Harbor.

Edison began the first 72 seconds with two three-point plays by David Atencio, who finished with 14 points. The Chargers hit five of their first seven shots and took a 14-5 lead midway through the first quarter.

Helping their cause were three three-point plays, the third by junior guard Randall Walker, who produced 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals. The Sailors (18-5, 3-2) had no answers for Walker.

The Chargers went into the second quarter with a nine-point lead, on Jonah Tuato’s putback at the buzzer. The offensive rebound marked the seventh for Edison in the opening quarter.

Newport Harbor began to keep the Chargers off the offensive boards in the second quarter, thanks to Edison 6-foot-7 center Tommy Barlow having to sit after getting into foul trouble. The Sailors rallied, making it a game. Charlie Stassel (12 points), scored in the paint twice early in the second, on a tip-in and hook shot, and Nate Harding (16 points) found his three-point shot, making two, while adding two free throws.

The Sailors went into halftime down, 32-31, after Collin Pipkin’s two free throws late. Newport Harbor wound up outscoring Edison, 20-12, in the second quarter and shooting 50% from the field.

Edison topped that percentage in the third quarter, going 10-of-12 shooting. The Chargers came out firing, especially Nate Matthews, who led everyone with 18 points.

The junior guard drained three shots from behind the arc during a two-minute span, and he had a chance at a fourth three-point play with 3:25 left in the third quarter. Harding fouled Matthews in the left corner, sending Matthews to the free-throw line.

“I almost had it,” said a smiling Matthews, who after making the first two free throws missed the final one.

Matthews’ third-quarter production, 11 points, allowed Edison to distance itself from Newport Harbor. Edison scored 21 of the first 27 points in the third, resulting in a 53-37 lead for Edison.

“I thought the key for us was that third quarter. We started playing a lot better defense,” said Boyce, whose team outscored the Sailors, 25-12, in the third quarter. “[Defense is] our trademark. We got to play defense.”

Five turnovers are how many Edison forced in the third quarter. The last one by Walker led to a Walker layup.

Newport Harbor, which trailed by as many as 18 points in the third, managed to cut the deficit to 59-51 on Harding’s third three-pointer with 5:35 left to play. Harding recorded each of his team’s threes, a shot the Sailors struggled with, missing 14 from three-point range.

The Sailors wouldn’t get any closer after Harding’s three. They dropped to third place, the spot they have finished in each of the past two seasons.

“You can’t miss two-footers against a good team. You can’t drop the ball against a good team. You can’t give away baskets on free throws against a good team,” said Newport Harbor Coach Bob Torribio, whose program last beat Edison during the 2007-08 season. “Our effort was there. We fought all night, but to beat a team that’s that good, you got to do things the right way.

“We got a tough game [at home] against Fountain Valley [on Friday]. We got a tough second half of league coming up. We really got to bounce back and play hard against Fountain Valley. Otherwise we’ll dig ourselves further in the hole.”

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Sunset League

Edison 68, Newport Harbor 55

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Newport 11 – 20 – 12 – 12 — 55

Edison 20 – 12 – 25 – 11— 68

NH – Harding 16, B. Phillips 14, Stassel 12, Pipkin 9, Laidlaw 2, J. Phillips 2.

3-pt. goals – Harding 3.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

E – Matthews 18, Walker 17, Atencio 14, Barlow 7, White 6, Tuato 4, McCauley 2.

3-pt. goals – Matthews 3, Walker 2, Atencio 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.