Fryer’s 41 Pace Corona del Mar, 82-62

El Modena High School knew it was in trouble Friday when it did not reach the point total of Corona del Mar’s Jeff Fryer until 4:16 to play in the third quarter.

By then the game was all but over.

Fryer, the Sea Kings’ senior forward, eventually scored 41 points to lead Corona del Mar to an 82-62 first-round victory over the Vanguards in a Southern Section 4-A playoffs at Corona del Mar.

The halftime score was Corona del Mar 36 (Fryer 26), El Modena 19.

Fryer continued to have more points than the Vanguards until midway through the third quarter. A Daren DeFeo basket cut the Sea Kings’ margin to 46-29, giving El Modena (14-11) one more point than Fryer had at that time.

Fryer scored inside and outside; he made layups, bank shots, rainbow jumpers from 30 feet and free throws.

By game’s end, Fryer had half of his team’s total (41 of 82), all of which helped the Sea Kings to advance to the second round against Dominguez at a site to be determined today.

The loss was Vanguards El Modena Coach Bill Ervin’s final game.

Ervin had announced earlier that he would retire at the end of the season, one that Fryer more than any other Sea King helped to hasten Friday.

“We kept trying to make adjustments (in defending Fryer), but he kept making adjustments after we did,” Ervin said. “We tried man-to-man, and we tried to overplay him, but he’s the best outside shooter we’ve run into this season.”

“He’s a major college player. He’ll do real well there.”

Said Fryer: “I was just happy to have a good game. I was really feeling good out there.”

For as much as Fryer scores, he is nonetheless is a team player, often feeding his teammates on the fast break, or passing instead of forcing a shot when the defense collapses on him.

Scoring 12 of his team’s first 16 points, Fryer staked the Sea Kings (23-4) to a 16-8 first quarter lead.

Ryan Rycraw scored 22 points to lead the Vanguards, but many of those points came in the second half long after the outcome was no longer in doubt.

The win, however, may be as much credited to Corona del Mar’s defense as it was to Fryer’s scoring. Throughout the first half, the Sea Kings’ active man-to-man defense forced numerous turnovers, setting up several fast break baskets for Corona del Mar.

Doug Green scored 20 points and Tod Bearbower added 11 to round out the Sea King starters who managed to score in double-figures.