South Coast League : Capo Valley Is Alone at Top After 61-54 Victory

The ranks of the undefeated in the South Coast League diminished by one Wednesday night as Capistrano Valley High School took sole possession of first place by virtue of its 61-54 victory over Mission Viejo in the Diablos’ gym.

The Cougars (4-0 in league, 16-2 overall) used a suffocating defense to help overcome a three-point halftime deficit (30-27) and outscore Mission Viejo 34-24 in the last two quarters.

The Cougars even ran up a 13-point lead before the Diablos rallied to close to within two points with 30 seconds to play, after which the Cougars secured the win with steady free throw shooting.

“When the kids went to the line, they really held their poise,” Capistrano Valley Coach Mark Thornton said. “That was the game right there.”

The Cougars hit seven of eight free throw attempts in the last 30 seconds to turn back the Diablos (2-1 and 13-4), who mounted an impressive rally considering that their best player and leading scorer, Mike Minier, fouled out with the Diablos trailing by 13 with less than two minutes to play.

At that point, the Cougars were comfortably ahead, 54-41, thanks to the balanced scoring from a patient offense that found the open man for a high-percentage shot much more often than the Diablos did.

The Cougars managed to get reasonably equal scoring from all five starters while Minier carried the bulk of the load for Mission Viejo with 19 points.

Capistrano Valley guard Gregg Bujnovsky led all scorers with 20 points, most of which came on either long jump shots or easy layups on passes from Nathan Call off of the fast break.

Tom Manley scored 11 points and Reid Lukes and Shawn Reid added 10 apiece for the Cougars. Capistrano Valley appeared to have the game under control when Minier fouled out with 1:55 to play and the 54-41 lead, but a full-court press by the Diablos resulted in several turnovers and fouls on the Cougars, fueling the comeback.

Mission Viejo’s last gasp came with 32 seconds to play after reserve guard Pat Mohan intercepted an inbounds pass by Capistrano Valley and scored to close the gap to two points at 54-52.

The Diablos couldn’t get any closer, however, as their subsequent tactic of intentionally fouling the Cougars to stop the clock backfired. CAPISTRANO VALLEY (61)--Beightol 4, Bujnovsky 20, Call 4, Lukes 10, Manley 11, Reed 10, Waikle 2.

MISSION VIEJO (54)--Brucato 1, Desiano 10, Herdman 2, Knowles 10, Minier 19, Mohan 4, Pederson 8.

In other South Coast League action:

San Clemente 53, Laguna Hills 44--Senior center Tony Villanueva had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Tritons to the win at San Clemente. Gary Wade, a 6-6 junior guard, added 9 rebounds and a game-high 22 points for the Tritons (2-1, 6-7). Bryan Seiling led Laguna Hills with 15 points. LAGUNA HILLS (44)--Garcia 8, Seiling 15, Conradt 8, Ringler 6, Halliday 4, Rahe 3.

SAN CLEMENTE (53)--Wade 22, Love 1, Villanueva 20, Greenberg 8, Reese 2.

Dana Hills 68, Irvine 56--Bryan McSweeney scored 12 of his game-high 25 points in the second quarter to help the Dolphins pull away for the home victory. McSweeney also had 10 rebounds.

IRVINE (56)--Patchell 13, S. Tamura 1, Herring 23, Raye 4, Schulz 2, Murphy 1, Trout 10, K. Tamura 2.

DANA HILLS (68)--Esteban 9, Jeffers 11, McSweeney 25, Mathieu 14, Lyon 3, Duby 4, Gloner 2.