THE PREPS : After Benching, McCorkle Sparks Capistrano Valley

Scott McCorkle, Capistrano Valley High’s multi-talented forward, had the wrong shoes but the right shooting touch Thursday night in a 76-66 nonleague victory over Corona del Mar in the season opener for both schools.

McCorkle made 9 of 16 shot attempts on a variety of moves and outside jumpers and added 9 free throws to lead all scorers with 29 points.

McCorkle and Andy Bosma, both starting forwards, were benched at the start of the game for violating a team policy by failing to bring the proper shoes to the game.

“It’s not like we have a shoe contract or something, it’s just that as a team everybody wears the same shoes, and they brought the wrong shoes,” said Mark Thornton, Capistrano Valley coach. “No one is above the team, so they sat.”

McCorkle didn’t sit long. He entered the game with 3:05 remaining in the first quarter and his team trailing, 8-4. He started slowly but got into a groove in the third, scoring 16 points when Capistrano Valley pulled away.

The teams were tied, 32-32, before Capistrano Valley scored 16 consecutive points with some accurate 3-point shooting and an effective fullcourt press that created 9 turnovers in the quarter.

“We put on the pressure on, and I think they got tired,” Thornton said. “Our press is either good or ordinary. We’re going to give up some points, and we’re going to get some points with it. It was very good for one quarter tonight.”

Corona del Mar was missing 4 players who are in the midst of the Division VI football playoffs, including starting point guard Jeff Clark. The Sea Kings managed to make the game respectable with a barrage of 3-point shots in the final quarter.

Matt Herrington led Corona del Mar with 19 points and 9 rebounds, and teammate Brian Spratt added 16 points.