Sea View League : Laguna Beach Loses Game and Chance to Clinch Berth

And so the topsy-turvy Sea View League season came to a suitable ending--still wide open.

All Laguna Beach had to do Friday night was beat University for the second time, and the Artists (7-7, 13-11) would have neatly secured the last berth to the playoffs.

But it couldn’t go like that--not in 1986, not in the Sea View League, the Bermuda Triangle of the local prep basketball scene. Somehow, it just wouldn’t have been fitting.

Instead, University (7-7, 11-13) led from the first second until the last at Laguna Beach and beat the Artists, 76-59. That result triggered a three-game special playoff series today among the four teams still tied for third place.

This league’s playoff picture makes crowding 28 freshmen into a Volkswagen look easy.

“This has been a crazy year,” said Trojan Coach Steve Scoggin. “It’s been a lot of fun from our perspective.

“We’re just real happy to have the chance to play tomorrow. We were the last-place team last year, the worst in the league, and now we’d have to be considered the third-best team in the league, or at least the fourth best.”

The way the Trojans shot the ball Friday, they could have been champions. Led by sophomore guard Steve Stolzoff, who scored 26 points and only missed three times all night, the team made 26 of 40 shots, or 65%. They also made 24 of 31 free throws.

The opposite was true for Laguna, which struggled from the start.

The Artists made only 25 of 64 shots, or 39%. They missed inside, they missed outside and they missed from mostly everywhere in between, including normally easy follow shots. Any height advantage did them no good; it wasn’t their night.

University took a 16-8 first-quarter lead and maintained the pace for a 32-25 margin at halftime. It would not have been nearly that close if Artist forward Scott Herdman hadn’t scored 12 first-half points.

But Herdman joined the Artists’ general misfortunes in the third quarter when University’s Eric Olin went after the ball on an inbounds pass to Herdman and the Artists’ leading scorer incurred a finger in the eye. He left the game with 18 points (9 of 18) and wasn’t able to return.

The Artists played a good third quarter, drawing to within a basket at 43-41. But the Trojans survived the test, matching them basket for basket and then edging farther ahead.

Here’s a measure of how good Laguna Beach center Coby Naess is: He scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but it would still be fair to say he had a subpar game.

Despite carrying a lot of early fouls, the Trojans’ Brett Winslow and Lasse Glassen did a fine job of frustrating Naess’ efforts throughout the game. Naess made only 7 of 18 shots. Glassen scored 21 and Winslow added 13.