SEA VIEW LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Eagles Keep Their Focus in Victory Over Irvine

Unhappy after a tough loss but unwilling to let it dampen spirits for long, Santa Margarita put a quick end to its two-day pity party.

In a Sea View League boys’ basketball game at Santa Margarita Wednesday night, fifth-ranked Santa Margarita put the rush on visiting Irvine and emerged with a 60-43 victory.

The victory washed away the Eagles’ anger from their league loss Monday to Newport Harbor on a shot at the buzzer.

“We had a bitter taste in our mouths after that one,” said Bobby Nolan, whose 10-point first-quarter performance helped Santa Margarita (12-3, 3-1) jump to a 22-2 lead. “We were pretty fired up today. We just wanted to shake it off.”

But Irvine, ranked seventh in the county, was unable to shake off the effects of Santa Margarita’s running game. With their fast break in full stride, the Eagles wore down Irvine (12-4, 2-2).

“They played that great first quarter and we were just shell-shocked,” said Irvine Coach Steve Keith. “You can’t make a comeback off a quarter like that.”

Not with Santa Margarita neutralizing Irvine’s offense. Vaqueros center Eric Ambrozich, who finished with a team-high 14 points, could only muster three points in the first half.

The Eagles forced Irvine to take numerous poor shots, and the Vaqueros didn’t score until there was about a minute left in the first quarter.

Santa Margarita Coach Jerry Debusk was just relieved to see his team come out as strong and as spirited as it did.

“Not to take anything away from Newport Harbor, but that was a disappointing loss Monday,” Debusk said. “I don’t know if they weren’t ready to play, but they didn’t come out enthusiastic. (Wednesday) they were a little more focused.”

Santa Margarita took a 31-15 halftime lead and extended it to 47-30 after the third quarter. The Eagles were effective at the free-throw line, where they made 17 of 22. Irvine was four of four from the free-throw line.

Point guard Adam Dzierzynski had a game-high 17 points for Santa Margarita, Nolan finished with 11 and teammate Kevin Lewis added 10.

In other league games:

Saddleback 71, University 68--Mizael Montanez made a layup with 20 seconds remaining to give Saddleback (5-10, 1-3) a 71-68 lead. Matt Hill’s three-pointer at the buzzer missed for University (3-11, 0-4). Demitrius Zeigler had 27 points for University and Chris Bradshaw led Saddleback with 13.

Tustin 60, Corona del Mar 54--Rod Scheuerman scored 19 points and Dejuan Matthews had 15 for Tustin (13-3, 4-0). Todd Merriman and Ramin Eastani each scored 13 points for Corona del Mar.

Woodbridge 62, Newport Harbor 46--John Florance had 17 points and Arash Ghazinoor had 15 for visiting Woodbridge. Eric Valley had 14 for Newport Harbor.