Sea View League Roundup : Saddleback Pulls Away to Beat Corona del Mar, 73-61

The first week of the Sea View league basketball season has not exactly been what Saddleback Coach Pat Quinn had in mind.

The Roadrunners struggled on Wednesday evening in beating University in the league opener, 64-57.

They continued that struggle Friday night in the first half against Corona del Mar before pulling away in the second half to defeat the visiting Sea Kings, 73-61.

“We were feeling Corona del Mar out in the first half,” Quinn said. “In the second half we were able to attack their height weakness and I felt we just wore them down as the game progressed.”

The Sea Kings (9-7, 0-2) were outrebounded, 30-18, and three of their top players--Brian Spratt, Matt Herrington and J.D. Holt--got into foul trouble in the first half with three each.

The Dottin brothers, Gylan and Malru, were unstoppable. Gylan had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Malru had 16 points and 8 rebounds for Saddleback (15-3, 2-0), the top-ranked team in the 3-A Division.

Corona del Mar played solidly in the first half and trailed by only three points at halftime, 38-35. Saddleback used its speed advantage through the third quarter and at the beginning of the fourth to outscore the Sea Kings, 22-6, to take control of the game at 60-41.

“Our quickness took over,” Quinn said. “Tonight was a perfect example, like Wednesday’s game, in that nothing will be easy in this league.”

Corona del Mar’s Matt Cwiertnia led all scorers with 22 points and teammate Herrington added 12. Spratt added six points and nine rebounds.

Tustin 55, University 53--Guard B. Lesean London made two free throws with two seconds remaining to give the Tillers (15-3, 2-0) the victory at Tustin. London led all scorers with 23 points and teammate Leo Parker added 15 points, despite sitting out most of the first half with three fouls.

University (6-9, 0-2) staged a fourth-quarter comeback behind the shooting of Steve Stolzoff and tied the score, 53-53. Stolzoff made two three-point shots in the last quarter and had 8 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.