ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : South Coast League : Irvine Hangs On to Beat Capo Valley

Irvine High School led Capistrano Valley by 11 points at halftime Wednesday night.

It could have been cruising time, but it wasn’t.

Capistrano Valley came back to close the lead to two points with three minutes to play, but could get no closer, losing, 62-53, at Irvine.

Irvine (3-0, 11-8) takes sole possession of first place in the South Coast League.

Capistrano Valley trailed by eight after three quarters, but outscored the Vaqueros, 12-6, at the start of the fourth, cutting the lead to 53-51 when Randy Stark hit two free throws with three minutes remaining.

But that was almost all the Cougars (2-1, 11-7) could manage. Dean Dunlap, who finished with 19, and Mike Herring, who had 20, scored quick baskets for Irvine and the Vaqueros hit five of seven free throws down the stretch.

“They came back hard,” said Irvine Coach Al Herring. “Nowadays an 11-point lead is not that much. We were never feeling very comfortable.”

Irvine jumped to a 22-15 lead in the first quarter, and stretched it to 11 by halftime as Capistrano Valley made fewer than 30% of its shots in the first half.

But Scott McCullough, who scored 10 of his 18 points in the first half, kept the Cougars in it with sharp outside shooting.

Dunlap gave Irvine an eight-point lead, scoring two quick baskets with about four minutes to play, but Stark made two free throws and then scored off an inbounds play before hitting the free throws that cut it to two.

Mission Viejo 74, Dana Hills 53--Forward Jeff Herdman scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Diablos (2-1, 13-4) at Mission Viejo. Matt Lackie added 12 points and 16 rebounds, and Todd Matthews scored 11 points for the Diablos, who built a 33-16 halftime lead and were never threatened.

El Toro 74, San Clemente 57--Bret Johnson scored 24 points, 12 in the fourth quarter, and had 9 assists to lead the Chargers (2-1, 12-7) at home. El Toro forward Eric Speaker scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds, and center Cory Wayland had 17 points and 17 rebounds. San Clemente is 0-3 in league.