PREP BASKETBALL : Southern Section 4-A Playoffs : Newport Survives Muir : Reserve Helps Sailors Win

Reserve Dean Sorenson scored twice in the final 1:23 of play to lead Newport Harbor High School to a 53-51 victory over Muir in the second round of the Southern Section 4-A division playoffs Tuesday night at Pasadena High.

Sorenson, a 6-foot 6-inch senior, slipped inside the Mustangs’ 2-3 zone defense to help the Sailors overcome a three-point deficit in the final quarter. The victory moved Newport Harbor (24-3) into the quarterfinals in which it will play Dominguez (21-4) at a site to be determined today.

Muir finished the season with a 20-7 record as its coach, Mike O’Connor, was left to ponder what might have been.

“The way we lost shocked me,” he said. “We were a better team, and we should have beaten them. We came out and played very weak defense in the second half. We just went flat.”

In the first half, there seemed little question Muir had the better talent. The Mustangs opened a 30-22 lead with an impressive fast break and an equally impressive full-court press.

How good was Muir? Newport Harbor Coach Jerry DeBusk admitted after the game that he thought it was going to be the season finale for his team.

“I started wondering if this was it,” DeBusk said. “We did everything we didn’t want to do. We tried to run with them, which was foolish. There was no way we could play their type of tempo.

“It wasn’t so much the fact they we were down by eight points, but it was the way we were playing that had me worried. They took us out of our game . . . we never played that way all year.”

The Mustangs were controlling the boards, the tempo and, more important, had the Sailors hurrying their shots. There was seemingly no way Newport Harbor could come back in this game--but the Sailors did.

Point guard Chuck McGavran got the Sailors rolling in the third quarter with a jump shot that cut Muir’s lead to 34-30. Forward Alan Fraser added a follow shot to slice the lead to 34-32, and Rob Mase gave the Sailors a 35-34 lead with 2:55 left in the third quarter.

From that point, the teams traded the lead several times. Muir’s Tony Akins made a three-point play for the three-point Muir lead going into the final quarter. That’s when Sailor center Mike Beech went to work.

Beech started throwing around his weight--all 260 pounds--and took control inside. The 6-7 senior scored consecutive baskets that moved Newport Harbor ahead, 45-42, with 6:06 left to play, and suddenly the Mustangs didn’t appear to be so invincible.

The teams traded leads two more times midway through the final quarter, and then Muir’s Trevor Houston tied the score, 49-49, with 2:19 remaining. Then it was time for Sorenson’s heroics.

He slipped behind two Muir defenders for an easy bank shot to give the Sailors a 51-49 lead with 1:23 left to play. With 30 seconds remaining, Muir’s Stacey Augman missed a baseline shot, and Mase grabbed the rebound.

Sorenson wrapped up the upset by rebounding Fraser’s errant shot and scoring with eight seconds remaining to complete the victory. He finished with eight points and six rebounds.

“That was the best game Dean Sorenson has ever played,” DeBusk said. “Both Dean and Mike Beech took advantage of Muir’s zone on the weak side. I don’t think they knew those guys were behind them. When they went to the zone, that really helped us. Man-to-man, they were tough with their quickness.”

Said O’Connor: “We just stood there and gave them easy layups and that’s exactly what I told them not to do at halftime.”