PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Century Picks Up Intensity Level, Beats Laguna Hills

Century Coach Greg Coombs had a simple request of his players Friday night: Play hard.

That’s not exactly a novel idea, but Coombs said he’d been a bit disappointed in the Centurions’ intensity lately.

They took his words to heart Friday, knocking off Laguna Hills, 63-50, in a Pacific Coast League game at Laguna Hills.

Century’s concentration seemed to falter only slightly, and Coombs said this was the type of game he’d been hoping for.

“We’ve struggled the last couple of ballgames,” Coombs said. “Sometimes, it’s hard to get your pride and esteem back.”

A 12-1 run to start the game seemed to work wonders on the Centurions’ frame of mind. By first quarter’s end, they led, 16-3, and Laguna Hills seemed hopelessly beaten.

Century (13-6, 3-2 in league) didn’t let up, pushing the lead to 29-12 by halftime.

“We’ve always stressed defense,” Coombs said. “We were able to get a couple of steals and turn them into fast-break baskets early in the game. We haven’t been doing that.”

The Centurions’ tight defense seemed to fluster Laguna Hills’ shooters.

Laguna Hills (8-10, 2-3) also had trouble coping with Thomas Harmon, a 6-foot-4 junior forward who scored eight of Century’s first 16 points. He had 14 by halftime and finished with a game-high 24 points.

Jesse McDonald had 12 points and eight rebounds to lead Laguna Hills.

The truest test of Century’s resolve came in the third quarter when Laguna Hills finally snapped to life. An 8-0 run trimmed the deficit to nine points, 29-20.

Later in the quarter, Laguna Hills cut Century’s lead to 34-27, but that was as close as the Hawks got.

Century was aided by the play of Curtis Arrington, a sophomore guard called up to the varsity because Coombs needed to replace starter Darvin Thompson, out with a knee injury.

Arrington made a layup and two free throws, which helped Century extend the lead to 41-28 after three quarters. He finished with six points.

In the fourth quarter, Century made its free throws and handled Laguna Hills’ full-court press reasonably well.

But the game was decided early on, according to Coombs.

“We were able to come out and one guy scored, then another guy scored,” Coombs said. “We haven’t been scoring well lately. But we’ve been telling them, ‘You’ll break out of it.’ ”

It finally happened Friday. All it took was a little extra effort.

In other league games:

Laguna Beach 80, Estancia 49--Ian McDonald had 23 points to lead host Laguna Beach (10-8, 2-3) to a surprisingly easy victory over Estancia (11-9, 4-1). Laguna Beach jumped out to a 20-7 first-quarter lead and was never challenged. Taylor Butcher added 18 points for the Artists. Clay Frenz had 17 points for Estancia.

Trabuco Hills 74, Costa Mesa 52--Brett Poulos scored 17 points and Matt Moore 16 to lead Trabuco Hills (17-4, 4-1). Costa Mesa is 9-8, 1-4.