Prep Basketball : Mission Viejo Victory Was Nearly Predictable

Call it ESP or plain old basketball sense. Either way, Mission Viejo Coach Bob Minier predicted the outcome of Friday’s Southern Section 4-A playoff game between the Diablos and Corona del Mar.

Before the game, Minier picked who would win, why and by how many points--missing by just one.

Minier’s precognition, along with the fine defense and shooting of his son Mike, carried the Diablos (23-4) to a 53-44 victory against the Sea Kings (19-7) in an exciting county matchup in the opening round of the 4-A playoffs.

One thing Minier did not pretend to be able to decipher was the reason fifth-seeded Mission Viejo, the South Coast League champion, had to meet one of the best third-place teams in its playoff opener. He suggested that it might have been a geographical matching.

When he considered the game, he decided that it depended on the Diablos’ ability to shoot more accurately than Corona del Mar and their success in squelching the Sea Kings’ Jeff Fryer, the county’s second-leading scorer at 23.4 points per game.

Many teams have tried and failed to defend against Fryer’s jump shot. But Bob Minier gave the task to Mike Minier and, in a fit of optimism, predicted the Diablos would win, 52-42.

“And we were right on it until their last long shot,” Minier said, too delighted with the victory to feign any disappointment at missing his prediction. He immediately began discussing the Diablos’ next game, Tuesday against John W. North of Riverside, the same tall, fast, well-coached team that knocked the Diablos out in last year’s 3-A semifinal.

Mission Viejo had the first half of Friday’s game in command as Mike Minier’s defense ensured that any Sea King attempts to pass to Fryer became a risky proposition at best. The Diablos used a box-and-one defense, playing a four-man zone while allowing Minier to float free to handle Fryer one-on-one.

Corona del Mar guard Bob Zimmer helped to challenge the Diablos with eight first-half points, all scored from the perimeter, the area Fryer generally roams and commits his acts of offensive terror.

Minier scored nine points in the half, while Fryer managed eight, and the Diablos took a 26-20 halftime advantage. That was a typical score for a game between these teams, perhaps even a bit high considering that the Sea Kings are the type of team that once wound up in a 14-14 tie at the half against Newport Harbor.

Around these schools during basketball season, patience is not a virtue--it’s the 11th Commandment. But in the third quarter, Corona del Mar’s 6-foot 8-inch center Steve Morris got impatient enough to score five in a string of six Sea King baskets. Morris’ outburst came after he had missed six of seven shoots in the first half, and his fifth follow shot boosted the Sea Kings to a 32-30 lead.

A jumper by Diablo point guard Tom Desiano and a pair of free throws by Minier gave Mission the 34-32 edge to close the third quarter.

Then Bob Minier noticed that his son was tiring, and decided it was time for reinforcements on the Fryer front. He switched Mike off Fryer and replaced him with Pat Mohan.

“That was the turning point in the game, when Mohan came in about two minutes into the last quarter and took Fryer out of the game,” Bob Minier said. “We managed to keep the ball away from Fryer and make somebody else try to beat us.”

As both teams jockeyed for strategic position, nobody scored from the field in the last 3:17 until Minier hit with undeer a minute to go.

Fryer scored just four of his total of 14 points in the fourth quarter, and the Diablos put the Sea Kings away for good with six late free throws by Mohan, the last of which added up to a 51-40 Mission Viejo advantage.