Newport-Mesa Basketball Tournament : Dottin Leads Saddleback to Double-Overtime Win

Malru Dottin hit a bank shot early in the second overtime and Jimmy Galbert added 2 free throws with 51 seconds left to give Saddleback High School a 59-56 victory over Mater Dei in the final of the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor tournament Monday at Newport Harbor.

Mater Dei, which trailed, 48-38, with 6 minutes left in regulation, used a swarming defense and 6 points by Dylan Rigdon to narrow the lead to 48-46 with 3 minutes remaining.

After a 3-point play by Craig Marshall gave Saddleback a 51-46 lead, the Monarchs scored the next 5 points, including a 3-pointer by Rigdon, who finished the game with 26 points, with 1:03 left, to tie the score, 51-51.

Mater Dei’s defense was stifling Saddleback in the final moments of regulation and Rigdon was unable to convert on his chance to win the game with 1 second left in regulation when his outside jumper bounded off the rim.

Derek Stone hit an inside shot with 25 seconds gone in the first overtime to give Mater Dei a 53-51 lead. He then hit a free throw with 42 seconds left to extend the lead to 54-51.

But Craig Marshall overcame a Monarch double-teaming defense to hit a 3-point shot with 5 seconds left to send the game into its second overtime. Like Rigdon, Marshall finished the game with 26 points.

Saddleback, which scored the game’s first 5 points, saw Mater Dei come back to take a 10-9 lead with 4 minutes left in the first quarter. The lead seesawed for the rest of the period until Craig Marshall hit a 3-point shot at the buzzer to give the Roadrunners a 20-18 lead.

Marshall hit a 2-point jumper and teammate Tony Annew followed with a 3-pointer to extend Saddleback’s lead to 25-20 with 2 minutes gone in the second quarter. But the Monarchs used 2 free throws by Rogdon, a foul shot by Andy Karich and a jumper by Stone to tie the game at 25-25 with four minutes left.

After another Angew 3-pointer and a inside shot by Marshall brought the Roadrunner lead back to 5 points, 30-25, Mater Dei scored 6 unanswered points to take a 31-30 halftime lead.

In the third-place game:

El Toro 79, Trabuco Hills 65--Rob Johnson scored 22 points, 12 in first half, and Khari Johnson added 19 points for El Toro (2-1). Greg Reynolds added 18 points for El Toro. Rick Swaniwck added 30 points, 16 in the first half, for Trabuco Hills.

In the consolation championship:

Newport Harbor 63, Costa Mesa 50--The Sailors outscored Costa Mesa, 14-3, to take a 42-25 lead with 2 minutes left in the third quarter.

In the fifth-place game:

La Quinta 82, University 80 (OT)--Thai Vu scored 8 of his 17 points in overtime to lead La Quinta (2-1). Scott Campbell scored 29 points, 22 in the second half, for the Aztecs, who led, 39-36, at halftime.

In the seventh-place game:

Cypress 51, Los Alamitos 44--The Centurions jumped to a 13-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and held the Griifns to just 17 points through 3 quarters.