SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL BASKETBAL PLAYOFFS : DIVISION IV BOYS : Laguna Beach Routs Coronado With 21-0 Third-Quarter Run

Laguna Beach High School scored 21 consecutive points in the third quarter of a 71-37 victory over Coronado in the opening round of the boys’ Southern California Division IV basketball regionals Tuesday night at Mission Bay High.

Guard John Trevino, who had a mediocre performance in the Southern Section 2-A championship game four days ago, made four three-point shots to key Laguna Beach’s third-quarter surge.

Trevino made two of 13 shots in Laguna Beach’s loss to St. Joseph in the 2-A title game. Tuesday night, however, he made five of eight three-point attempts and led all scorers with 19 points.

Laguna Beach (23-6) will meet Santa Clara, the state’s defending Division IV champion, in the regional semifinals Thursday night at Ventura College. Santa Clara (25-0) has not lost a game since losing to Edison in the Estancia tournament in December 1988.

Center Derek Wastila helped Coronado (19-9) stay close for one half. Wastila was intimidating in the middle, blocking six shots in the first half, which ended 23-23.

But Wastila picked up his third and fourth fouls midway through the third quarter and Coronado lost its momentum in a hurry with its best player on the bench. The teams were tied, 25-25, when Laguna Beach scored 21 consecutive points to take a 46-25 lead.

“We started looking at him (Wastila) instead of the basket,” Laguna Beach Coach Ed Bowen said. “He was intimidating our shooters. He was dictating the game. I almost got into a fight with our kids in the locker room trying to convince them that the guy wasn’t superman.”

Wastila, averaging 16.7 points a game, fouled out with 5:45 remaining, finishing the game with 10 points.

To spark Laguna Beach’s surge, Trevino made three consecutive three-pointers, opening the middle for Dain Blanton. Blanton’s jump shot with 5:01 remaining in the quarter pushed Laguna Beach ahead, 35-25.

Trevino made his third consecutive three-pointer to put the Artists ahead, 40-25, and Coronado failed to score until 2:22 remained in the quarter.

Trevino, who had been mired in a slump through most of the Southern Section playoffs, said he regained his confidence against Coronado.

“I watched a tape of the first half of our game with St. Joseph and noticed I was a little short on my shots,” Trevino said.

“This was a good win after blowing the game Saturday. After we lost, we just decided to see what we could do in the regionals.

“When I started hitting outside, that opened up the inside for Dain and he started challenging their big guy. This win was definitely good for all of us.”

Blanton finished with 18 points, including 12 in the third quarter. Josh Borella and Brady Butcher each added 10 points.