ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Boys’ Roundup : Corona del Mar Proves Defense Is Still Name of Its Game

Rest easy, Corona del Mar High School basketball fans, the program is in good hands.

Defense, long the trademark of the Sea Kings’ program through the glory years under coaches Tandy Gillis and Jack Errion, remains the name of the game.

Sure, Errion takes his seat in the stands rather than on the bench, but first-year Coach Paul Orris has his team playing that scrappy, man-to-man defense that has been the mainstay of the program.

Corona del Mar was never better defensively than Thursday night when the Sea Kings totally frustrated Marina in a 67-57 victory in the quarterfinals of the Irvine World News Tournament in University High’s gymnasium.

The Sea Kings (8-1) kept the Vikings off balance and forced them to hurry their shots in what turned into a one-sided game in the second half.

Marina came into the game ranked second in the Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. poll with a 6-0 record, but the Vikings were no match for Corona del Mar’s defense.

“The game is still defense,” Orris said. “We kept them off balance, and they had a hard time getting the ball inside to their big guy.”

Orris was referring to Marina’s 6-foot 10-inch center, Mark Georgeson, who only a week ago was named the most valuable player in the Fountain Valley Tournament after leading the Vikings to the title.

Georgeson scored 18 points, had 10 rebounds and blocked 3 shots, but he was hardly a factor. Corona del Mar center Kevin O’Neil did an excellent job of containing Georgeson, despite giving up four inches in height.

Then, there was the defensive job Sea King forward Chris Burns did on Marina forward Steve Guild, who is a three-year starter. Guild was shut out in the first quarter and finished with only eight points.

“Georgeson is going to get his points, no matter who’s guarding him, but Kevin did a great job,” Orris said. “Burns shut down Guild, and I don’t care what anybody says, Guild is one of the best players in Orange County.”

Corona del Mar was also impressive offensively. Forward Markus Muller-Stach led all scorers with 24 points and guard Darren Morris added 16 points. The Sea Kings were successful on 29 of 56 field goal attempts, most of them coming from the 12-20 foot range.

“Everything they ran, it worked,” said Marina Coach Steve Popovich. “They shot very, very well. They rebounded well and took us out of our game with their defense. We’re a good team, but we ran up against a team that couldn’t do anything wrong.”

Marina was playing without starting guard Matt Hattabaugh, who was sick with a 103-degree temperature. But it’s doubtful that Hattabaugh’s presence would have changed the game’s outcome.

The Sea Kings opened a 46-36 lead to start the fourth quarter when O’Neil drove around a startled Georgeson for a layup. The celebration began when Chris Hook drove the court for a dunk for a 60-49 lead with 1:37 remaining.

In other Irvine Tournament games:

San Ramon 60, Woodbridge 56--Senior center Eric McDonough didn’t play in the first quarter but still scored 24 points in San Ramon’s upset of the Warriors (6-1).

Rob Heidger scored 21 for San Ramon (5-3).

Adam Keefe scored 21 and Vince Bryant 19.

Troy 62, Rancho Alamitos 55--Forward Brad Deloof scored 18 points for the Warriors. Randy Morelas scored 14 for Rancho Alamitos (3-4).

Laguna Hills 55, Paramount 51--Mike Smedes (22 points) and Trent DeVreugd (15) came off the bench to lead the Hawks (3-5) in one consolation quarterfinal.

Sophomore guard Chris Sheff (10) was the only Laguna Hills starter to score in double figures.

Edison 45, Canyon 39--Mike Henderson scored 16 points and Scott De Stefano 11 for the Chargers (4-4).

David Jones scored 14 for Canyon.

Western 69, Costa Mesa 47--Chuck Powell scored 18 points for the Pioneers (5-2).

Santa Ana 59, Irvine 50--Bobby Joyce scored 19, Scott Stewart 12, Darrell Bailey 12, and Willie Lane 12 for the Saints (6-2).

Mike Herring scored 11, Mike McGinnis, Matt Norton 10 each for the Vaqueros (6-3).

El Toro 68, Foothill 62--The Chargers advanced to the Irvine Tournament semifinals with the win over the Knights at Woodbridge High School.

Erik Speaker led El Toro with 23 points, and the Chargers got 19 points and 18 rebounds from Cory Wayland. El Toro plays Corona del Mar at 7:30 tonight at Woodbridge.

Foothill (5-3) was led by Doug Kopcha’s 16 points and Greg Rieber’s 14. The Knights play Marina in the fifth-place bracket game at 6 p.m. tonight at Woodbridge.

In the Arroyo Grande Tournament:

Fountain Valley 39, San Luis Obispo 37--The Barons won to advance to tonight’s semifinals against Righetti of Santa Maria.

With the score tied at 37 and time running out, John Wolcott stole the ball for the Barons and passed to Tom Weaver, who scored the winning layin with 7 seconds left.

Rob Briggs of Fountain Valley led all scorers with 16 points. Simon Boller scored 11 to lead the Tigers.

In the Tournament of Champions:

Capistrano Valley 65, Morningside 51--Scott McCullough scored 15 and Randy Stark 12 for the Cougars (5-3).

In the Fullerton Tournament:

Buena Park 68, Valencia 65--Gary Hunter scored 32 points as the Coyotes overcame a 38-32 halftime deficit in a semifinal game. Buena Park will play Fullerton for the championship at 7:30 tonight.

Kevin Grady added 17 points for the Coyotes. Dennis Burbank led the Tigers with 23 and Bernie James added 16.

Fullerton 62, Cerritos 47--Guard Greg Wilber scored 14 points and guard Dave Sawyer added 13 to lead the Indians (3-3).

La Serna 60, Villa Park--Guard David Hazel scored 20 points and forward Tyler Austin added 17 for the Lancers in a consolation semifinal game. La Serna plays Sonora for the consolation championship at 4:30 today. Guard Tom Bray led the Spartans with 16.

Sonora 64, Garden Grove 48--David Morris scored 24 points, Geoff Crow 18 and Grayle Humphrey 13 as the Raiders advanced to the consolation championship. Scott Lorenz scored 30 points for the Argonauts who scored just five points in the first quarter and trailed 23-5.

In the Express League:

Harbor Christian 72, Claremont 53--Despite 21 points by Tom Patraw and 15 by Mark Sanger, the Cougars (0-2, 1-4) lost in Harbor City. Scott Paddock and Frank Olivera scored 23 points each for the Hawks (1-1, 2-3).

In nonleague:

St. Margaret’s 59, Francis Parker 47--Junior Chris Cooper scored 21 points including making 15 of 16 free throwns for the Tartans. Cooper made 14 consecutive free throws.

Bolsa Grande 77, La Mirada 42--Thurman Brown scored 17 points, Joe Small added 16 and Tony Beal scored 15, as Bolsa Grande’s Matadors (5-3) gored La Mirada’s Matadores in non-league play at La Mirada.

Scott Ray led La Mirada with 12 points.