South Coast League : Dana Hills Big Scare for Diablos

As home league openers go, Mission Viejo High School really didn’t do much after the first quarter to impress its fans Friday night.

The Diablos, the sixth-ranked boys’ basketball team in Orange County, managed only a 44-42 win over unranked Dana Hills in South Coast League action, despite opening up an 18-2 lead at the end of one period.

After pulling to within 37-35 with five minutes left, the Dolphins (0-1, 6-5) missed four straight chances to tie over the next two minutes. Mission Viejo (2-0, 12-4) then extended the lead to seven when forward Scott Pedersen scored five straight points, the last three coming on three-point play.

The Dolphins were far from through, however. senior guard Eddie Esteban (8 points) hit a jumper, and the Diablo inbound pass was stolen by senior forward Dave Lyon (17 points), who made a layup and was fouled. Once he completed the three-point play, Dana Hills trailed by just two points again with only 42 seconds left.

But Mission Viejo center Tim Knowles (11 points) was fouled, and, after missing the front end of a one-and-one, he got his own rebound and made a basket to give the Diablos a 44-40 lead. That was quickly cut to two when Dana Hills guard Bob Crawford made a basket with five seconds left.

“They’re supposed to be the sixth-ranked team in the county,” Dana Hills coach Steve Thornton said. “We came into their gym and they could only beat us by two even after we fell behind, 18-2. We took them out of their game after that; we almost got them.”

Junior forward Jeff Herdman was the leading scorer for Mission Viejo with 13 points, including two first-half dunks, but sat out much of the second half after picking up his fourth foul less than one minute into the third quarter.

“The way we played in the first quarter was great,” Mission Viejo coach Bob Minier said. “After that, they forced our hand and we did not respond until it was almost too late.”

DANA HILLS (42)--Esteban 8, Crawford 2, Loyd 11, Lyon 17, Thompson 4.

MISSION VIEJO (44)--Knowles 11, Herdman 13, Pedersen 12, Mathews 4, Billups 4.

Capistrano Valley 92, San Clemente 73--Nathan Call scored 27 points and John Waikle added 16 as the Cougars broke open a game that had been close for a half at San Clemente. Gary Wade scored 37 points and had 6 rebounds and 5 steals for the Tritons. Capistrano Valley raised its record to 2-0 and 14-2. San Clemente’s fell to 0-2 and 7-8.

CAPISTRANO VALLEY (92)--Call 27, Stark 8, Waikle 16, Trask 11, Reed 12, Balagot 4, Davey 6, Binder 2, Montes 2, Beightol 2, Wend 2.

SAN CLEMENTE (73)--Wade 37, McGraw 8, Steadman 14, Kaopsell 2, Christiansen 9, Fisher 1, Jones 2.

El Toro 57, Irvine 54--Jeff Stone made the winning basket for the Chargers on a turn around jump shot in the key. Stone’s basket made it 55-54 and came after Irvine’s Dave Ballantine had put the Vaqueros ahead, 54-53, with a hook shot with 32 seconds left. Four players scored in double figures for El Toro.

EL TORO (57)--Tobey 12, Speaker 16, Wayland 6, Johnson 12, Stone 11.

IRVINE (54)--Patchell 3, Tamura 10, Herring 2, Moceri 9, Raye 8, Snoddy 4, Norton 10, Oden 4, Ballantyne 4.