PREP BASKETBALL : Sea View League : Fryer Is Too Much for Sailors : CdM Wins as Guard Scores 34 Points

It should have been a rather unfair offensive matchup--the entire starting lineup of the Newport Harbor High School basketball team against Corona del Mar’s one shooting threat, guard Jeff Fryer.

And it did turn out to be unfair. Fryer would have had to play with his feet in a flour sack to make things even.

He scored 34 points and the Sea Kings (2-0, 12-2) beat the Sailors, 73-50, at Newport Harbor Wednesday night in a Sea View League game.

This game really did not live up to the fine tradition between the rivals, in part because of 59 fouls.

By halftime, Corona del Mar had made 16 of 24 free-throw attempts, compared to 8 of 14 by Newport Harbor (1-1, 7-5). The Sea Kings held a 33-22 lead, which they did not relinquish.

Both coaches agreed that Corona del Mar guard Doug Green deserved a great deal of the credit. Sea King Coach Jack Errion, who once described zones as “un-American,” assigned Green the job of guarding Maurice Lee, the Sailors’ leading scorer.

Lee was not heard from again, until he fouled out with 6:23 left in the game and an uncharacteristic six points.

Meanwhile, Fryer, who has had as many as three defenders all to himself in recent games, was having a fine time at the Sailors’ expense. Newport Harbor Coach Tim Parsel decided not to use any fancy defensive schemes to contain the high-scoring senior, and Errion approved of that strategy.

“They didn’t come out in any special defenses,” he said. “They just played him straight up, and I think they did the right thing.”

Parsel pointed out that Fryer did start off by missing five of his first seven shots. But by halftime, he had made 5 of 10 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line for 17 points.

The Sailors, whom Parsel said “regressed” in this game, did have a much more balanced scoring attack than the Sea Kings. It was just anemic. The starters wound up averaging six points each, and nobody scored over nine.

“I don’t know why games go weird,” Errion said. “I didn’t expect it to be like this. If we played 10 more times, I’m sure this wouldn’t happen again.”