Ocean View Tournament of Champions : McCorkle Leads Capistrano Valley

After watching Westchester High School, the top-seeded team in the 17th Tournament of Champions, get upset, 74-73, Monday night, Capistrano Valley Coach Mark Thornton said, “Ratings don’t mean a thing this time of year.”

Westchester came into the tournament ranked sixth in the nation by USA Today but found itself in the consolation bracket after the loss. Thornton knows the feeling.

Last week, Capistrano Valley entered the Fountain Valley tournament as the top-ranked team in Orange County and quickly exited after being upset by Compton and El Dorado on successive nights.

Capistrano Valley made only 1 of 29 shots in the second half against Compton and played both games without its best player, Scott McCorkle, who sat out with the flu.

But the Cougars got back on the winning track with McCorkle back in the lineup Monday, defeating Morningside, 77-61, at Ocean View High.

McCorkle scored 33 points and 10 rebounds and is averaging 31 points in 2 games. It’s no coincidence that Capistrano Valley (2-2) has won both games in which McCorkle has played and lost both games in which he hasn’t.

“I thought we had the depth to play with those teams at Fountain Valley without Scott, but we didn’t,” Thornton said. “Scott was really sick, and anytime you’re missing 31 points from your lineup, it’s tough.

“We didn’t play very well last week and missed all those shots against Compton and still only lost by 3 points.”

McCorkle was still showing some ill effects from the flu as he struggled to make only 2 of 9 3-point attempts. Teammate Bill Mazurie added 19 points as Capistrano Valley made 34 of 44 free throws.

In other first-round games:

Mater Dei 81, Bosco Tech 48--The Monarchs opened a 21-8 lead in the first quarter and cruised to their sixth victory in 7 games.

Guard Dylan Rigdon did not start, but finished as Mater Dei’s top scorer, making 5 of 9 shots and all 4 of his free throws. Center Derek Stone added 14 points and 7 rebounds.

Fresno Edison 74, Westchester 73--Guard Dale Phillips scored on a follow shot with 4 seconds remaining as Edison upset the state’s top-ranked team.

Edison trailed by 17 points in the third quarter and was still behind by 13 with 3:47 remaining to play. But Fresno Edison managed to cut the deficit with some accurate 3-point shooting.