SEA VIEW LEAGUE : Layup Lifts Woodbridge to Victory

Ryan Rauch scored on a layup with one second left to give Woodbridge High School a 55-53 victory over Newport Harbor Wednesday night in Irvine in a game marking the Warriors’ return to the Sea View League.

The shot was a result of what Rauch called a busted play, quite different from the one set up during a Woodbridge timeout a few seconds earlier.

“I was supposed to get a (corner) screen but I didn’t get it, so I just drove down the middle,” said the 6-foot-4 senior forward, who finished with 19 points.

Woodbridge (11-6, 1-0 in league), which finished third in the Pacific Coast League last season, climbed back from deficits of six points (19-13) after the first quarter and one point (30-29) at halftime.

“We didn’t get a lot of stuff inside in the first half,” Woodbridge Coach Bill Shannon said. “That’s a credit to their defense.”

The Warriors held a 46-40 lead after three quarters, but were outscored, 13-9, in the final period. Woodbridge led, 53-50, with 33 seconds remaining, but Justin McIntee hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to tie the score.

McIntee almost single-handedly kept Newport Harbor (8-8, 0-1) in the game. He had 19 points and 14 rebounds. The junior center scored the first six points of the game as the Sailors jumped to an 8-0 lead.

But Woodbridge then turned to its half-court press and three-point shooting--making three of five attempts--to slow down the Sailors in the second quarter. Woodbridge went on a 10-1 run to start the period.

The Warriors almost let the game get away by making only 52.6% of their free throws (10 of 19). They shot 42.2% from the floor. Newport Harbor didn’t set the nets on fire from the free-throw line either, making 8 of 12 (66.6%). The Sailors were 20 of 42 from the floor (47.6%).

For Newport Harbor, guard Huy Nguyen had 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers, before being forced out by an ankle injury midway through the third quarter. Junior guard Todd Loewe, who was three of six from three-point range, scored 11 for Woodbridge.

The score was a bit too close for Shannon.

“They (Newport Harbor) came and played with a lot of tenacity,” he said.