ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Roundup : Defense Pays Off for Capistrano Valley as El Toro Is Shut Down, 58-47

Capistrano Valley High School proved that defense is just as important as offense as the Cougars beat El Toro, 58-47, Wednesday in the South Coast League opener for both schools at Capistrano Valley.

The Cougars (10-6) allowed only three El Toro players to score and shut out center Cory Wayland.

“We wanted to shut down at least one of their inside players,” said Cougar Coach Mark Thornton. “I feel very good about holding a good El Toro team to only 47 points. The defense was the difference for us.”

Capistrano Valley built a 38-28 lead with two minutes remaining in the third quarter on a seven-point streak, the last basket coming on a 20-foot jump shot by senior guard Scott McCullough.

McCullough led all scorers with 23 points. He also had seven assists. Eric Speaker scored 18 for El Toro (10-7), and guard Bret Johnson had 17. The Chargers never got untracked from the field. They hit only 17 of 52 shots.

Capistrano Valley led 23-18 at the half, mainly on the outside shooting of McCullough, Todd Kostoff and Todd Marinovich.

In the Academy League:

Newport Christian 57, Heritage 36--Phil Bader and Scott Cooper each scored 13 points and Wayne Everett added 12 to lead Newport Christian (2-2, 5-7) at home.

In the Angelus League:

Mater Dei 68, St. Paul 59--LeRon Ellis led the Monarchs (2-0, 15-1) with 21 points and 16 rebounds. John Guerro led St. Paul with 19 at Mater Dei.

Servite 78, Bishop Montgomery 58--Tony Smalley scored 19 points and Brian Kenney added 14 to lead Servite (2-0, 9-7).

In the Century League:

Canyon 64, Foothill 61 (OT)--Senior guard David Jones made one of two free throws with no time left to send the game into overtime, then scored all five points in the overtime to give the Comanches (1-0, 6-6) the win at Canyon.

Jones led all scorers with 26 points. Randy Simpson added 16 points and 16 rebounds for Canyon. Doug Kopcha led Foothill (0-1, 7-8) with 21 points.

Santa Ana 99, Villa Park 59--Bobby Joyce led the Saints (1-0, 12-5) with 32 points and 13 rebounds at Villa Park. Jeff Stewart helped Santa Ana with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Santa Ana Valley 53, El Modena 47--Kenny Phillips scored 14 points and Brett Beale added 12 to lead Santa Ana Valley (1-0, 4-10). Adam Coghill led El Modena (0-1, 0-10) with 21 points.

In the Empire League:

Cypress 72, Pacifica 68--Frantz Reyes had 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead Centurions (2-3, 5-9) at Cypress. Matt Civitelli set a Cypress school record with 15 assists. Dustin Bonham scored 20 points to lead the Mariners (1-4, 7-7).

El Dorado 70, Esperanza 60--Brian Cardenas scored 17 and Mike Brooks had 16 points to lead the Golden Hawks (2-3, 6-7) at El Dorado. Rob Nay led all scorers with 19 for Esperanza (2-3 in league).

Los Alamitos 72, Kennedy 70--Doug Wadleigh had 17 points and Mo Warner added 14 points and 11 rebounds as the Griffins (5-0, 12-3) earned their 10th straight victory. Wendell Lauderdale led all scorers with 18 for Kennedy (3-2, 9-6).

Katella 48, Loara 32--The Knights won their fifth league game without a defeat as Rich Lucas and Tom Villanueva each scored 12 points at Loara. Todd Eaton led all scorers with 14 for Loara (0-5, 2-10).

In the Freeway League:

Fullerton 51, Sonora 31--Mike Hetland scored 16 points to lead the Indians (2-1, 6-6) at Fullerton. Sonora (1-2, 3-8) was led Scott Goldfarb with 12 points.

Sunny Hills 57, La Habra 51--David Chisum scored 14 points and teammate Brian McCloskey added 13 points as the Lancers improved their league record to 2-1. Nelson Bergano led host La Habra, 0-3, with 17 points, including four, three-point shots.

Troy 60, Buena Park 49--Steve Shirley led the Warriors (3-0, 12-4) with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Gary Hunter led the Coyotes (1-2, 8-6) at Troy.

In the Pacific Coast League:

Woodbridge 76, Laguna Beach 59--Vince Bryan scored 18 points, Adam Keefe 16 and David Townsend 16 as the Warriors (11-5) won their league opener at Laguna Beach. Scott Herdman, with 23 points, and Rob Appel, with 15, led the Artists (4-10).

Trabuco Hills 68, Costa Mesa 52--Gordon McNeill scored 30 points to lead Trabuco Hills to the win at Costa Mesa.

Laguna Hills 54, Orange 53--Mike Smedes scored 20 points to lead Laguna Hills (1-0, 5-10).

In the South Coast League:

Irvine 61, Dana Hills 44--Mike Herring scored 20 points to lead Irvine (1-0, 9-8). Matt Norton added 10 points for the Vaqueros. David Cmelak had a game-high 22 points for Dana Hills (0-1, 2-11).

In girls’ Academy League:

Newport Christian 25, Heritage 14--Cynthia Curren scored nine points to lead Newport Christian (1-3, 1-7).

In the Garden Grove League:

La Quinta 63, Bolsa Grande 31--Senior point guard Kris Takayama scored 14 points and had 8 assists, and junior forward Cindi Kollar had 16 points and 8 rebounds to help the Aztecs (2-0, 9-5) to their third straight victory by more than 30 points.

In the Sea View League:

Corona del Mar 39, Saddleback 37--Kiki Stovekin scored 14 points and Kathy Smirl added 13 to lead Corona del Mar (1-0). Saddleback’s Monica Walton scored a game-high 26 points.