PREP BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : 4-A Semifinals : Capistrano Valley Gets to Final With New Star

Capistrano Valley High School has had more than its share of basketball stars over the past 10 years. Bob Charles; Wayne, Burt and Nathan Call, and Dan Dargan have helped establish the Cougars as one of the top programs in Southern California.

On Wednesday night, an emerging star took the spotlight as sophomore forward Scott McCorkle scored 35 points to lead Capistrano Valley to an 82-75 win over Santa Barbara in the semifinals of the Southern Section’s 4-A division playoffs at Saddleback College.

A crowd of 2,000 saw McCorkle make four consecutive three-point shots in the first half to help the Cougars open a 35-31 lead and then make six straight free throws in the final quarter to hold off Santa Barbara.

McCorkle, 6-feet 5-inches, made 11 of 16 shots and 9 of 11 free throws as Capistrano Valley (26-4) advanced to the 4-A title game at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Los Angeles Sports Arena against Simi Valley (26-3) with its 20th consecutive victory of the season.

The Cougars will be making their second appearance in the title game in the past seven seasons under Coach Mark Thornton. Capistrano Valley qualified for the 2-A title game in Thornton’s first season, where it lost to Burroughs of Ridgecrest.

Simi Valley, top-seeded in the 4-A division, eliminated Capistrano Valley from the playoffs two years ago at Pepperdine University, handing Thornton one of the worst losses of his career.

Thornton said, “We’ve been talking about how good Scott McCorkle is going to be by his senior year, but I think he came of age tonight.

“I don’t think you’ll have to wait until his senior year to call him a great player. He’s pretty good right now.”

McCorkle picked the right moment. Teammates Charles Lockard and Todd Marinovich had off-nights. Marinovich, the team’s leading scorer, had difficulty getting open for shots and finished with 12 points. He had only seven shots.

Lockard, usually a very capable ballhandler at point guard, repeatedly turned the ball over and was benched twice for inconsistent play. But he scored 8 of his 15 points in the last quarter when Santa Barbara threatened to get its third upset of the playoffs.

Santa Barbara (22-6) had upset Muir and Glendora to reach the semifinals, but the Dons were hurt early when their best player, Paul Johnson, got his fourth foul with 2:42 remaining in the first half.

Remarkably, Johnson managed to stay in the game until late in the fourth quarter before fouling out with 26 points. Santa Barbara also managed to stay close to Capistrano Valley by scoring 38 points in the last quarter, one more point than the Dons scored in three previous quarters.

“They were really quick and played the best man defense we’ve seen all season,” Thornton said. “Their coach (Bob Purdy) showed a lot of guts leaving Johnson in the game. He’s one of the best players we’ve ever faced. We couldn’t contain him.”

Despite Johnson’s fine play, the night belonged to McCorkle, who turned 16 less than a month ago. Afterward, he seemed a little embarrassed by all the attention.

“I was on tonight,” he said. “I’ve never taken that many three-point shots before, but I had the rhythm going and felt good. I might have scored more points in a freshman game last year, but that was definitely my best varsity game.”