South Coast League : El Toro Gets Defensive and Beats Laguna Hills

The talk around El Toro High School earlier this week was of the offensive plays the Chargers used Wednesday night to rally from 13 points down with four minutes to play to defeat Irvine in overtime, 96-90.

But it was defense that made the difference for El Toro Friday night as the Chargers beat Laguna Hills, 65-52, in front of 1,700 spectators in the El Toro gym. Sure, Laguna Hills did its part by shooting 44% from the field (35% in the first half). And while the Hawks were struggling with their jump shots, the Chargers weren’t.

But to hear El Toro Coach Tim Travers tell it, the Chargers won by getting defensive.

“We shot well, but the key to the game was defense,” Travers said after his team’s second consecutive South Coast League win. “That was especially pleasing, after giving up 90 points two nights ago. We did a good job of keeping the ball away from their scorers.”

Laguna Hills Coach John Moore agreed, to a point. Moore watched his team drop its league opener, then talked about how the Hawks complimented El Toro’s sound defense with an offense that was, well, offending.

“I thought El Toro did a good job of switching up on our offense and we didn’t do a good job adjusting,” Moore said. “We just weren’t taking good shots.

“We paid for our impatience. We deserved to get thrashed. I just hope we learned a lesson from this.”

El Toro began the educational process early, taking a 14-9 lead after one quarter. Scott Shockey, who had 33 points in the Chargers’ win over Irvine, hit five of six field goal attempts in the first quarter and had 14 of his game-high 22 points by halftime. The 6-foot 1-inch senior has been one of El Toro’s most consistent scorers.

“Scott got us off to a great start,” Travers said. “But the guy who’s really been playing well and has gone unnoticed has been Tim McLain.”

McLain was noticed Wednesday. He hit the two free throws with two seconds left in regulation to send the Irvine game into overtime. Against the Hawks, he finished with 13 points and helped El Toro’s defense virtually shut down Laguna Hills’ guards.

Mike Garcia and Reed Ringler, the Hawks’ starting guards, combined for only 13 points. Garcia, who Moore considered one of his best players before the season began, had a particularly frustrating night. He missed his first 10 shots and finished with four points, all in the fourth quarter when El Toro was in command.

Moore insisted his team would have fared better had it been more enterprising on offense.

“We just didn’t create good shots,” he said. “We didn’t take what they were giving us.

“It would be like a football team lining everybody up on the right side and you keep insisting on going that way.”

The Hawks’ (8-6 overall) troubles were particularly evident in the first half, when they were 8 of 23 from the floor. They managed to keep it close until midway through the second quarter, but were outscored, 10-2, in the closing five minutes of the first half.

Senior forward Bryan Seiling had 16 points in the second half and finished as the Hawks’ leading scorer with 19. Greg Halliday added 11.

Capistrano Valley 73, Dana Hills 55--The Cougars started quick, hitting 11 of their first 12 shots in the game played at Saddleback College. Capistrano Valley’s Tom Manley had 11 of his team-high 20 points in the first quarter and guard Nate Call had 7 of his 13 assists in the same quarter. Dana Hills’ Bryan McSweeney scored a game-high 25 points, had 5 rebounds and blocked 4 shots. Capistrano Valley improved its record to 14-2 overall and 2-0 in South Coast League play. Dana Hills is 8-4 overall and 0-2 in league play.

San Clemente 63, Irvine 51 --Tony Villanueva had 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to help the Tritons pull away from the Vaqueros at Irvine. Gary Wade scored a game-high 26 points for San Clemente, including 19 in the first half. Bob Greenberg added 12 points for the Tritons. Shawn Patchell led Irvine with 13.