Sea View League : Estancia Rolls Without Brazell and Covey

It’s not often that a team will see two of its starters foul out of a basketball game in the third quarter and still go on to win by 20 points.

But that’s exactly what happened to Estancia High School in its 70-50 victory over University in Sea View League play at University Friday night.

The Eagles lost starters Ron Brazell and Craig Covey to fouls within 40 seconds midway through the third quarter, but that hardly fazed them.

Brazell and Covey are forwards, and in the Estancia scheme, the big men usually just serve as porters for the guards.

So it was in this game. Not only did the Eagles protect their 11-point lead when Brazell and Covey fouled out, but they increased it to the final 20-point margin.

There were two reasons for this. The first is that Estancia has historically had a guard-oriented program. This year’s model point guard is Kyle Mooney, a 6-foot junior who runs the show with confidence. He scored only 10 points, but he was usually leading the fast break or harassing University’s guards on defense.

The second reason Estancia wasn’t hurt by the absence of Brazell and Covey was 6-8 junior Steve Barkley, who was playing only his second varsity game after being brought up from the junior varsity last Wednesday.

Barkley, who replaced Brazell, scored only six points, but he does give the Eagles an intimidating presence on defense, as well as being a focal point for the Estancia followers, who are well aware of his rookie status.

In fact, the biggest cheer of the night came when Barkley sank a hook from the right baseline late in the game.

“He got that from watching Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) on TV,” Estancia Coach Joe Reid cracked. “The crowd really responds to him. It helped his confidence when he hit his first shot tonight.”

Estancia started slowly, trailing, 12-10, after one quarter, but thanks to patient shot selection and some generous turnovers from the Trojans, the Eagles led at the half, 31-22, and were never headed from there.

With the win, Estancia improved its record to 5-4 in the league and 12-8 overall. University fell to 4-5 and 8-11.

ESTANCIA (70)--Baker 1, Mooney 10, Pinckney 9, Rusick 4, Tift 14, Brazell 6, Covey 2, Trejo 18, Barkley 6.

UNIVERSITY (50)--Olin 9, KisKis 2, Gorzokowski 5, Stolzoff 14, Glassen 15, Winslow 5.

In other Sea View League games:

Woodbridge 47, Laguna Beach 35--Adam Keefe won the battle of big men against the Artists’ Coby Naess by scoring 21 points and grabbing 12 rebounds at Woodbridge. Naess led the Artists with 14 points. Woodbridge (6-3, 17-5) is alone in second place, trailing Corona del Mar by a game. Laguna Beach (5-4, 11-8) dropped into a three-way tie for third place with Saddleback and Estancia.

LAGUNA BEACH (35)--Naess 14, Spath 1, Elfsten 10, Herdman 10.

WOODBRIDGE (47)--Murphy 4, Keefe 21, Townsend 4, Bryan 14, Bettencourt 2, Sullivan 2.

Saddleback 71, Costa Mesa 52--Bryant Walton scored 35 points and Joe Deal added 18 to lead the Roadrunners at Saddleback. Erich Vogel and Tom Morris scored 20 and 15 points, respectively, for the Mustangs. Saddleback improved its record to 5-4 and 10-9 to pull into a three-way tie with Estancia and Laguna Beach for third place. Costa Mesa fell to 0-9 and 1-15.

COSTA MESA (52)--Kos 2, Nguyen 4, Vogel 20, Morris 15, Ma 4, Rodriguez 3, Nishinuta 2, Felter 2.

SADDLEBACK (71)--Walton 35, Deal 18, Dottin 7, Butler 1, Ontiveros 2, Alonzo 2, Campbell 2, Hanson 4.

Corona del Mar 74, Newport Harbor 60--Jeff Fryer scored 32 points on 11 of 21 shooting from the floor and 10 of 14 at the free throw line to lead the Sea Kings at Corona del Mar. Tod Bearbower scored 19 points and added 8 assists for the Sea Kings. Scott Craig scored 14 points to lead the Sailors. With the victory, Corona del Mar (7-2, 17-4) stayed one game ahead of Woodbridge. Newport Harbor fell to 4-5 and 10-9.

NEWPORT HARBOR (60)--Lee 7, Richards 9, Craig 14, Allstrom 8, Torell 8, Sheward 8, Young 6.

CORONA DEL MAR (74)--Fryer 32, Turner 6, Bearbower 19, Green 11, O’Neil 4, Morris 2.