ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Irvine World News Tournament : Corona del Mar’s Press Takes Attack Away From El Toro

The El Toro High School basketball team had difficulty working the ball inside Friday night, but first the Chargers had a more pressing subject to deal with.

Namely, Corona del Mar’s fullcourt press.

The Sea Kings effectively pressed the Chargers for much of the game and beat El Toro, 78-59, in a championship semifinal game of the Irvine World News Tournament played at Woodbrige High School’s gymnasium.

Corona del Mar will meet San Ramon tonight at 8 at Irvine High School for the tournament championship.

Consistently through the first half, the Corona del Mar press took the steam out of the Chargers’ attack, resulting in several turnovers that the Sea Kings turned into fast-break baskets.

“The press gives them one more thing to have to worry about,” Corona del Mar Coach Paul Orris said. “By the fourth quarter, they expended so much energy bringing the ball up the court that it took an edge off their game.”

Corona del Mar (9-1) hardly used the press in the fourth quarter for that very reason--it can also take its toll on the pressing team, and Orris didn’t want his players to be unnecessarily expended before tonight’s championship game.

By the fourth quarter, the game had been all but won by the Sea Kings.

Led by Markus Muller-Stach’s game-high 29 points, Corona del Mar took the early lead and never let up. The Sea Kings stretched a 17-14 first-quarter lead to 37-30 at the half, and El Toro could not get any closer in the second half.

For its part, the Chargers (5-3) matched up well with Corona del Mar, but did not get much help in scoring beyond Bret Johnson’s 19 points and Eric Speaker’s 16.

Johnson, the quarterback of the school’s football team who is now finishing only his first week of basketball, was particularly effective in penetrating the Corona del Mar defense, but by halftime the Sea Kings were able to adjust and cut off his attack.

Said Orris: “To walk off the football field and do the things he’s doing is the sign of a great athlete.

“I’ve been around this sport long enough to know that it usually takes about four weeks (for a football player) to start looking like a basketball player, but he’s already there.”

In other tournament games:

San Ramon 65, Santa Ana 54--Center Eric McDonough scored 28 points to lead San Ramon into the championship game. McDonough, who has signed with California, was the only player in double figures for San Ramon (6-3).

Bobby Joyce led Santa Ana (6-3) with 17 points and forward Willy Lane added 14.

Woodbrige 61, Irvine 54--The Warriors rebounded after losing for the first time this season Thursday night to San Ramon. Vince Bryan scored 20 and Adam Keefe 21 for Woodbridge, which plays Marina at 5 p.m. today in the fifth-place game.

Long Beach Wilson 81, University 71--Senior center Don Brotz scored 37 points as the Bruins advance to the seventh-place game at 3:30 p.m. today 3:30 p.m. University (6-2) was eliminated.

Steve Stolzoff scored 26 and Lasse Glassen added 17 points for the Trojans (7-2).

Laguna Hills 60, Savanna 45--The Hawks won their third game in a row and advanced to the consolation championship game against Troy at 2 p.m. today.

Greg Nelsons scored 13, Chris Sheff 14 and Mike Smedes 14 for Laguna Hills (4-5).

Rick Kawada scored only 2 points, but had 12 assists for Laguna Hills.

Troy 61, Western 49--Steve Shirley scored 13 points as the Warriors (6-3) advanced to the consolation championship game, where they will meet Laguna Hills. Will Jefferson scored 18 points and Chuck Powell had 12 for the Pioneers (5-3).

Los Amigos 71, Edison 68--Gene Altamirano scored 32 points and had eight rebounds to lead Los Amigos (5-2) over the Chargers. J.J. Jenkins added 15 points for the Lobos. Los Amigos advances to the seventh place game.

Marina 65, Foothill 51--Mark Georgeson scored 21 points and Steve Guild added 16 for the Vikings (7-1) over Foothill. Doug Kopcha and Rusty Van Cleave each had 10 points for the Knights (5-5).