Irvine World News Tournament : Keefe Helps Woodbridge Reach Final

Adam Keefe scored a game-high 23 points and had 15 rebounds and 4 blocked shots to lead Woodbridge High School to a 52-42 victory over Kennedy in a semifinal game of the Irvine World News basketball tournament at Woodbridge Friday night.

The 6-foot 9-inch Keefe, who was double-teamed throughout much of the game, kept the Warriors buoyed above a flood of turnovers.

Woodbridge took a 20-8 first-quarter lead, but the Warriors committed six turnovers in the second quarter. But Kennedy, playing without starters Mike Keith (pulled thigh muscle) and Mike Williams (sprained ankle), couldn’t capitalize.

“I know if we shot better we would have been in the ballgame,” Kennedy Coach John Mayberry said. “But you can’t do much with two of your best players sitting on the bench injured.”

Woodbridge continued its sloppy play in the third quarter with eight turnovers, but Keefe and Chris Diebert combined for a 12-point run to give the Warriors a 42-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter, there were four more turnovers for Woodbridge, and a rally for Kennedy. Fighting Irish guard Wendell Lauderdale made two three-point shots in the final three minutes of play, and teammate Glenn Tarleton added two jump shots, but it wasn’t enough.

“I’m definitely concerned with all of our turnovers,” said Bill Shannon, Woodbridge coach. “It’s been our major deficiency all year. But I’m just happy to get a win, and I’m happy that tomorrow night I’ll be opening the doors of the Bren Center for us to play in the championship game.”

In other Irvine World News tournament games:

Irvine 54, Long Beach Wilson 41--David Ballantyne scored 17 points to lead the Vaqueros at Woodbridge. Jerry Petersen added 10 points and Bryan Allred 9 to help Irvine. Long Beach Wilson was led by Jody Pruitt with a game-high 18 points.

Saddleback 66, Estancia 47--Gylan Dottin scored 16 points and his brother Malru Dottin added 14 to lead Saddleback at Woodbridge. The Eagles were led by Tim Kjar (10 points) and Mark Hartley (8).

Marina 77, Artesia 54--Dan Floyd scored 23 points, Cherokee Parks 21 and Steve Guild 18 for Marina in an easy victory at Irvine High School. Marina (8-1) plays University at 3 p.m. today at the Bren Center for seventh place.

University 57, Laguna Hills 53--Steve Stolzoff and David Warren scored 14 points each for University (6-3) at Irvine.