ORANGE HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT : It’s Bombs Away for Capistrano Valley in Victory Over Kennedy

Few teams in Orange County have taken advantage of the three-point shot more effectively than Capistrano Valley High School since the rule was incorporated in 1987-88.

For the past three years, Capistrano Valley has been highly successful with former stars Scott McCorkle, Chris Kostoff, Bill Mazurie and Charles Lockard consistently hitting the three-pointer.

On Thursday night, Capistrano Valey once again rode the wave of some fine three-point shooting, making seven of 11 attempts in the first half and rolling to a 73-55 victory over Kennedy in the Orange Holiday Tournament.

The victory moved Capistrano Valley (12-1) into tonight’s semifinals, where it will meet San Francisco Riordan (8-2) at 6:50 in Chapman College’s Hutton Sports Center. Mater Dei (7-3) will meet Santa Clara (12-2) in the other semifinal.

Three of the four teams played in state championship games in Oakland last spring. Mater Dei beat Riordan in the Division I title game and Santa Clara was the Division IV champion.

Riordan will have the imposing task of trying to contain guard Tom Airey, the latest in the line of top guns at Capistrano Valley. Airey scored 26 points against Kennedy, hitting six three-pointers against a soft Kennedy defense.

Airey made three consecutive three-pointers in the second quarter when Capistrano Valley opened a 40-25 lead, and the Cougars weren’t threatened the rest of the way. Center Brett McCorkle also showed he can hit three-pointers, making a pair in the second quarter. Capistrano Valley made 9 of 13 field goals in the quarter.

“This line has changed the game so much in the past four years that you’ve got to take advantage of it,” said Mark Thornton, Capistrano Valley coach. “We start right off emphasizing the shot with our freshmen. Right now, we have three or four kids on the freshman team who can shoot it.”

Thornton said Capistrano Valley averages 42% as a team from three-point range with Airey, McCorkle and guard Dan Sedgwick given the green light to attempt the shot. Airey averages 50% from three-point range.

Kennedy (3-6) did a poor job of defending Capistrano Valley’s shooters, using a perimeter defense that’s designed to contain outside shooters.

The lone bright spot for Kennedy was the continued improvement of junior center Jermaine Galloway. Galloway had 23 points, nine rebounds and blocked three shots.

Mater Dei 60, Orange 36--Forward Jason Janeski scored 19 points and center Terence Wilborn added 10 points as Mater Dei (8-3) won for the sixth time in its past seven games. Center Jamiel Wortheim had 15 points for Orange (6-4).

In consolation play:

Saddleback 72, Sammamish (Wash.) 67--Forward Jason Register scored 17 points and teammate David Washington added 14 for Saddleback.

Fountain Valley 84, Facey Composite 37--Center Barrett Hoygan scored 20 points and forward Adam Ziebarth added 16 for Fountain Valley.

Laguna Beach 73, Orange Lutheran 70--Guard Josh Borrella, averaging 28 points per game, scored a season-high 37 for Laguna Beach (6-4).