South Coast League : Dana Hills Upends Capo Valley, 80-73

A big night by some of the little people on the Dana Hills High School basketball team gave Steve Thornton what he called the most satisfying win in his six seasons as the head coach of the Dolphins.

Wednesday night, Dana Hills proved that it can be more than just a one-man team when star Bryan McSweeney got help from his less-celebrated teammates in upsetting Capistrano Valley, 80-73, in a South Coast League game in the Dolphins’ gym.

The 6-foot 7-inch McSweeney led the way with 32 points, but having a big night scoring has come to be expected of the Stanford-bound star. The Dolphins were able to trip the Cougars largely behind the floor games of Eddie Esteban and Will Jeffers, two 5-9 guards.

In most of the games that Dana Hills loses, McSweeney will be the leading scorer and behind him no other starter will score in double figures. Against Capistrano Valley, Jeffers and Esteban scored 18 and 13 points, respectively.

The win came as a surprise to both teams, considering that Dana Hills was routed by Mission Viejo on Monday, 66-40, dropping the Dolphins to fourth place in the league behind Mission Viejo, Capistrano Valley and El Toro.

“After losing to Mission on Monday, I didn’t know how the team would react,” Thornton said. “And we didn’t have a very good practice on Tuesday. But that had to be the best second half that we’ve ever played.”

Thornton isn’t exaggerating. After falling behind, 35-30, at the half, the Dolphins stormed back to outscore the Cougars, 50-38, in the last two quarters to pull out the victory.

Dana Hills (5-3, 13-5) began its comeback immediately at the start of the third quarter, with Jeffers and Esteban combining to score the first three baskets of the second half. That put the Dolphins ahead, 36-35, and the teams traded baskets until McSweeney scored two straight baskets a few moments later to put the Dolphins up, 44-39.

By the middle of the fourth quarter, Dana Hills was up by as many as 12 points, 66-54, before Capistrano Valley (5-3, 16-5) reeled off eight straight points to close to within four points with 1:58 left.

After that, it became a game of fouling (by Capistrano Valley) and free throws (by Dana Hills), and because Jeffers, McSweeney and forward Adam Mathieu were able to hit their free throws down the stretch, Dolphin Coach Steve Thornton was able to break the jinx of never having beaten the Cougars during his tenure at the school.

CAPISTRANO VALLEY (73)--Stark 4, Call 17, Bujnovsky 13, Reed 8, Manley 7, Lukes 24.

DANA HILLS (80)--Jeffers 18, Esteban 13, Lyon 9, Mathieu 8, McSweeney 32.

In other South Coast League action:

San Clemente 64, Irvine 57--Tony Villanueva scored 26 points and had 22 rebounds and Gary Wade added 21 points as the Tritons broke a four-game losing streak at home.

San Clemente (3-5, 7-11) took a 39-23 lead at halftime before the Vaqueros (0-8, 6-14) rallied to get within five in the fourth quarter.

IRVINE (57)--Patchell 19, Tamura 8, Herring 10, Mocere 2, Raye 3, Murphy 2, Trout 9, Snoddy 4.

SAN CLEMENTE (64)--Wade 21, Villanueva 26, Thomas 2, Love 4, Greenberg 2, McGraw 3, Ciezadlo 2.

Laguna Hills 63, El Toro 59--The Hawks held an eight-point lead early in the game at Laguna Hills, but the Chargers steadily edged closer until they trailed by just two points, 57-55, with 20 seconds left. But the Hawks (3-4, 11-9) held on to win with four last-minute free throws by Reed Ringler and a long jump shot by Jeff Stone.

EL TORO (59)--Kunsaitis 14, Moynihan 4, Shockey 18, Stone 11, McLain 8, Markert 2, Myers 2.

LAGUNA HILLS (63)--Garcia 6, Seiling 19, Conradt 16, Ringler 14, Halliday 8.