Tournament of Champions : Capistrano Valley Holds On to Edge Ocean View

Capistrano Valley High School won the first showdown of the 1985-86 prep basketball season, stunning top-ranked Ocean View, 53-51, Wednesday night in the second round of the 14th Tournament of Champions in Cal Poly Pomona’s Kellogg Gymnasium.

The Cougars, now 7-0, led throughout most of the game and then made enough free throws down the stretch to advance to the semifinals of the 16-team tournament. The Cougars will meet Santa Monica in the next round at 9 Friday night.

Forward Shawn Reed made the pressure shots and point guard Nathan Call ran the offense smoothly to establish the Cougars as the kings of Orange County. Ocean View made only 9 of 27 shot attempts in the second half and suffered its first loss in eight games.

Capistrano Valley made only 4 of 8 free throws in the final minute of play to keep the game close. But the Cougars were clearly the better team with more offensive weapons.

“I felt we should have won by more,” said Mark Thornton, Capistrano Valley coach. “I don’t think they have as many shooters as we do. We made the difficult plays and missed some easy stuff inside.”

Ocean View’s only effective offensive weapon was forward Tony Panzica. The 6-foot 7-inch senior led the Seahawks with 16 points and made 7 of 12 field goal attempts.

Ricky Butler, the Seahawks’ best player, was contained by Capistrano Valley’s 2-3 zone defense and limited to 13 points. Butler did make his presence felt, however, with 14 rebounds.

Ocean View’s only significant lead came with 2:38 remaining in the first quarter. Panzica made a three-point play to push the Seahawks ahead, 12-8, but Capistrano Valley came roaring back and maintained a lead the remainder of the game.

The Cougars held a 33-30 advantage at halftime as both teams shot better than 50% in the first half. Capistrano Valley was 16 of 31 in the half and Ocean View was 11 of 21 from the field.

But just when it appeared that this was going to be a high-scoring game, the teams went cold in the third quarter. Both scored only eight points as defense and strategy came into play.

The Cougars concentrated on sagging inside on Butler while the Seahawks did their best to slow down the hot-shooting Reed. Reed managed only five points in the second half, but his bank shot with 2:01 remaining in the third quarter gave Capistrano Valley a 33-25 lead.

Reed’s 22-foot jump shot with 2:46 remaining in the game moved the Cougars ahead, 41-35, and afterward it was simply a matter of making some free throws.

That was easier said than done. Capistrano Valley felt the pressure in the final minutes and didn’t seal the win until Call made two free throws with 15 seconds left for a six-point lead.

“Holding a team like Ocean View to only 51 points is quite an accomplishment,” Thornton said. “Really, this was one of the biggest wins in my career. I thought the turning point came when we went to the zone and made it hard for Butler to get the ball. That turned the game around for us.”

Jim Harris, Ocean View coach, said the game reminded him of last year’s season-opening loss to Mission Viejo. He said his team became complacent against the Cougars’ zone.

“They sagged inside and dared us to shoot,” Harris said. “It reminded me of exactly what Mission Viejo did to us last year. We didn’t have an aggressive attitude.”

The Seahawks shot only 40% in the game, making 20 of 50 field goal attempts. Capistrano Valley was 23 of 48 from the field, but made only 7 of 18 free-throw attempts.

CAPISTRANO VALLEY (53)--Trask 3, Reed 15, Waikle 12, Stark 5, Call 16, Balagot 2.

OCEAN VIEW (51)--Panzica 16, Hazely 5, Butler 13, DeBrouwer 13, Treskes 2, Votgmann 2.