South Coast League : Irvine Keeps Dana Hills at Bay, 52-35

Todd Trout and Steve Dunmeyer scored 6 points each in the fourth quarter as Irvine High School withstood a second-half Dana Hills rally to take a 52-35 South Coast League victory Wednesday at Irvine.

Irvine (16-2, 2-0), led, 25-16, at halftime. But Dana Hills (12-8, 0-2) outscored the Vaqueros, 8-5, in the third quarter to narrow the Vaquero lead to 30-24.

As Dana Hills was working to narrow the Irvine lead further to start the fourth quarter, Dunmeyer intercepted a Dana Hills pass and was intentionally fouled by Chris Delfs as Dunmeyer was attempting a layup.

Dunmeyer made both free throws to extend the Vaquero lead to 32-24. After Irvine inbounded the ball after the foul shots, Jon Molle made a short bank shot to increase Irvine’s lead to 34-24.

Irvine, which made 16 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter, finished the period by outscoring the Dolphins, 22-11. Dunmeyer, who made 6 of his 8 fourth-quarter free throws, finished the game with 9 points. Trout led all scorers with 15 points.

“That definitely was a turning point in the game,” said Steve Keith, Irvine coach, referring to Dunmeyer’s steal and subsequent free throws.

“Dunmeyer and Trout both made key baskets and we were able to pull the game out.”

Rich Skelton, Dana Hills coach, said the score gave no indication of the intensity of the game. “We hung in there for most of the game, but they were able to get a 6-point turnaround with the intentional foul,” he said.

“Instead of us being down by 4, they were able to get the 2 free throws and a field goal shortly thereafter. We played with a lot of intensity tonight, but we didn’t execute very well.”

Trout got 5 of his 7 first-quarter points in the first 7 minutes as Irvine took a 9-8 lead. But Brian Allred made a 3-point jumper with 43 seconds left, and Trout connected on a layup at the buzzer to give the Vaqueros a 14-8 lead at period’s end.

Irvine started the second period by scoring 6 unanswered points to take a 20-8 lead. Dana Hills got as close as 8 points three times in the period before Irvine closed out the half with a 9-point lead.

John Lloyd, Dana Hills’ 6-foot 8-inch center, finished the game with 10 points to lead his team.

Capistrano Valley 71, Mission Viejo 61--Chris Kostoff scored 22 points and Scott McCorkle had 21 to lead Capistrano Valley (12-4, 2-0). Bill Mazurie added 13 points for the Cougars. Jim Butchko scored 15 points and Eric Cramer had 14 for Mission Viejo (6-9, 1-1).