SOUTH COAST LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Irvine Wins to Remain in First Place

Irvine High School used a standout, a stand-in and a standby to earn its seventh consecutive victory, a 66-55 triumph over visiting El Toro Friday night to remain atop the South Coast League standings.

As usual, forward John Molle was the standout, scoring 11 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter. Point guard Brian Linsenmayer, filling in for injured Brad Gramlich, contributed nine points and 11 assists and standby Jado Lee came off the bench to add 11 points and eight rebounds.

Irvine (18-2, 5-0 in league) built sizable leads in the second and third quarters, only to see the struggling Chargers (10-10, 1-4) mount rallies before finally fading midway through the final quarter. The Vaqueros led, 21-10, early in the second quarter before El Toro closed the gap to 27-25 at intermission.

“They used an extended half-court zone, and we didn’t answer it well,” Irvine Coach Steve Keith said. “In the second half, we did a better job of moving the ball and made better choices. Jado really provided some offensive spark coming off the bench. We needed that extra scoring dimension.”

Irvine went on a 14-2 run to take a 41-27 lead with 4 minutes 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but El Toro closed to within 47-41 early in the fourth quarter before Irvine pulled away to a 62-49 lead with 1:36 left.

“Linsenmayer has really saved our season the way he has played in the last two games,” Keith said. “He’s been a savior for us with Gramlich still out with a turned ankle. I was really concerned about this game with the athletes they (El Toro) have.”

Molle added 15 rebounds for Irvine. El Toro’s Rob Johnson had 16 points.