IRVINE WORLD NEWS TOURNAMENT : Irvine Escapes Peninsula’s Traps to Win

Irvine held off Palos Verdes Peninsula’s trapping defense in the final quarter to score a 49-43 victory in the semifinals of the Irvine World News Tournament Friday night at Irvine High School.

The Vaqueros (6-1) held a 43-33 lead with 6 minutes 4 seconds left in the game, but Peninsula (6-2) began forcing turnovers and closed the gap to 46-43 on Tim Akins’ three-point basket with 51 seconds remaining. Jim French, who scored a game-high 19 points, hit three free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory for the Vaqueros.

“I thought we defensed the heck out of them,” Irvine Coach Steve Keith said. “Peninsula is a big team with good athletes, so when they trap, they’re going to be effective.”

Irvine led from start to finish despite an off night by Eric Ambrozich, who hit only two of eight shots and finished with nine points. Fortunately for the Vaqueros, French and Greg Wakeham picked up the scoring slack. Wakeham had 12 points and five rebounds.

The Vaqueros will play Kennedy for the championship at 6 tonight at Christ College Irvine.

In the other semifinal:

Kennedy 80, University 73--Patrick Kunz scored 35 points and grabbed a school-record 28 rebounds to lead Kennedy in a semifinal game. Paul Pappas had 13 points and Pat Cummins added 12 for the Fighting Irish. Demi Zeigler had 30 points and 12 rebounds for University (2-3).

In consolation games:

Marina 58, Saddleback 54--Eric Endsley scored 24 points for Marina (3-3). Melvin Lete had 16 points for Saddleback (2-3).

Santa Ana 84, San Pedro 75--Gus Garcia had 19 points and Fred Mora 18 for Santa Ana (2-3).

Santa Ana Valley 70, San Clemente 69--Anthony Porter made a 15-footer with one second left to give Santa Ana Valley the victory. Jeff Serrano had 21 and Porter had 19 for Santa Ana Valley (4-4). Luke Mannix had 23 for San Clemente (3-5).

Woodbridge 65, Diamond Bar 58--Gignesh Movalia had 16 points to lead host Woodbridge (3-3).