SEA VIEW LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Santa Margarita’s Road Show Keeps Rolling at Corona del Mar

It would be understandable if Santa Margarita wasn’t excited about its basketball home opener next week.

The way the Eagles have played on the road thus far, they might be wise to stay away from home.

For the 13th time this season, the Eagles stepped onto a foreign court Friday night when they played a Sea View League game at Corona del Mar. As has been the case 11 times, the Eagles won, staying in command throughout a 61-51 victory over Corona del Mar.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go home,” said Eagle forward Jim Lewis, who scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. “It’s been a fun start. But we’re ready to go home.”

Santa Margarita opens at home Monday night against Newport Harbor. The Eagles (11-2) will bring a 2-0 league record into the game.

“I’ve been preaching the importance of winning on the road in this league,” Eagles Coach Jerry DeBusk said. “We’ve really helped ourselves. In our league, it’s so equal top to bottom. It’s an important bonus to win on the road.”

The feeling was quite different in the Corona del Mar locker room. The Sea Kings dropped to 7-6, 0-2 in league.

“We just gave them too many layups,” Sea King Coach Paul Orris said. “We tried to make them beat us from outside but let them in.

“We haven’t been consistent. We have to come up with answers.”

Able to work the ball inside to Lewis and Bryan Young (13 points each), Santa Margarita built an 11-point lead by intermission.

Corona del Mar made a brief run at the start of the second half. Daniel MacMillan hit a three-pointer and a layup and Todd Merriman hit a jumper as the Sea Kings scored seven consecutive points to pull to within four. But Lewis answered back with a pair of buckets and the Sea Kings never got within seven points again.

“With this start,” Lewis said, “I think we can go unbeaten in the league.”

Merriman led all scorers with 17 points, eight of which came in the last quarter when the outcome was no longer in doubt.

In other league games:

Woodbridge 71, University 66--Rob Whitfield and John Florance scored 17 and 14 points, respectively, for Woodbridge (8-4, 2-0). Demitrius Zeigler scored 32 points and hit three three-pointers for University (3-9, 0-2).

Irvine 50, Saddleback 45--Eric Ambrozich had 21 points to lead host Irvine (11-3, 1-1) past Saddleback (7-8, 0-2). Saddleback’s Chris Bradshaw had seven three-pointers and 23 points.