Capistrano Beach Basketball : Capistrano Valley Defeats Irvine for Championship

Capistrano Valley High School’s basketball team knows Irvine inside and out.

In March, Capistrano Valley defeated Irvine for the Southern Section 5-A boys’ championship.

That was inside.

On Saturday, Capistrano Valley defeated Irvine, 60-44, to win the Capistrano Beach basketball tournament.

That was outside.

There are no gyms at Capistrano Beach, just an outdoor court that Capistrano Valley is comfortable enough with to win the tournament title for the second consecutive year.

“Playing at the beach makes the game much more physical,” Irvine coach Steve Keith said. “It’s harder to shoot from the perimeter.”

Which was bad for Irvine, because its strength the past couple years has been its perimeter shooting. At the beach, Irvine’s outside shooting was not so strong.

Capistrano Valley was strong inside and that proved to be the difference.

Led by All-Southern Section guard Chris Kostoff, who led all scorers with 25 points, Capistrano Valley’s guards drove the lane frequently and its front line players posted up nearly as often.

“You always need someone like Scott McCorkle on your team,” Capistrano Valley Coach Mark Thornton said. “But it was good for us not to have him in that we had to go to other players.”

McCorkle, a standout forward, missed the championship game because he was at a basketball camp.

Capistrano Valley went to Kostoff so much that after Capistrano Valley threw a pass intended for Eric Gruenwald out of bounds, Thornton stood up, pointed at his star guard and said: “He’s a shooter. That’s what a shooter looks like. Pass it to him.”

Irvine played well, especially in the first half, which ended with the score tied at 25. Capistrano Valley opened a 45-38 lead at the end of three quarters.

John Molle (17 points) and Brian Boothroid (12) were the only two Irvine players in double figures.

“Our defense did a great job,” Thornton said. “We were really working on our man-to-man.”

Indeed, Irvine scored only six points in the final quarter.

Conversely, Capistrano Valley’s front line was effective, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter. Jason Perry had seven of those points and Gruenwald had six.

Tournament notes

Dana Hills finished third by defeating Clovis West, 63-43; Mater Dei defeated Western, 69-60, and Savanna, 67-41, to finish fifth; Tracy defeated Savanna, 69-56, to finish seventh. In the consolation final, Antioch defeated St. Francis (Costa Rica), 57-46, to finish ninth; Anaheim defeated Swink, 81-49, to finish 11th; and Fallbrook defeated San Clemente, 56-51, to finish 13th. Capistrano Valley defeated Dana Hills, 52-45, in a championship semifinal game. Irvine beat Clovis West, 45-40, in the other championship semifinal.