Gritty Woodbridge Takes Title
Third-ranked Woodbridge swooped to its second consecutive Irvine World News tournament title Saturday with a 58-50 victory over upstart Capistrano Valley in front of 1,425 at Concordia.
But the score does not reflect how close the game actually was.
The 4-4 Cougars, who took a four-point lead into the fourth quarter, would not let the 8-1 Warriors play pretty. So Woodbridge instead turned gritty, using a stingy defense that held Capistrano Valley to 20 second-half points, and outscored the Cougars, 16-8, in the final six minutes.
Woodbridge center Chris Burgess scored 13 of his game-high 18 points in the second half and was named the tournament’s MVP for the second consecutive year. Teammate William Stovall, who had two key three-pointers in the fourth quarter, had 14 points and Brandon Beeson added 10.
Ryan Thurlow topped the Cougars with 15 and Dan Galvanoni had 14.
“Defense definitely won the game for us because we were very inefficient on offense in the first half,” Woodbridge Coach John Halagan said. “In fact, we rarely ran any offense.”
Indeed, the Warriors looked tentative against the array of zone defenses thrown at them by Capistrano Valley.
In taking a 30-24 halftime lead, the Cougars--using 6-foot-9 center Josh Garrett (nine points) to front Burgess and the rest of the team to collapse around him any time he got the ball--managed to contain the Warriors’ star to one field goal and five points.
Halagan said he got loud in the Woodbridge locker room at halftime.
“I challenged all our kids, but especially Burgess and Stovall. And those two took their games up a couple of notches,” Halagan said. “Good teams find a way to win, and we’re a good team.”
Cougar Coach Brian Mulligan knew his team, which last led, 46-45, before Stovall scored a quick five points on a three-pointer, a steal, and a layup with 3:31 to play, had missed a chance at a major upset.
“Our foul situation finally caught up with us,” said Mulligan, reflecting on Garrett fouling out and Woodbridge being awarded 28 free-throw attempts to Capistrano Valley’s seven. “But I know we’re talented and could be a top-10 team.”
They won’t get an argument from Woodbridge, which joins Santa Ana Valley as the only teams to win back-to-back Irvine World News tournaments.
In the third-place game:
University 69, Irvine 63--Eric Palmer scored 10 points in the second quarter as University rallied for a victory. The Vaqueros (5-5) led, 23-7, at the end of the first quarter. But Palmer led the Trojans (5-5) back and brought University within three at halftime.
John Fudge scored 22 points for Irvine. Palmer had 16 points for the Trojans.
In consolation games:
Dana Hills 57, Palos Verdes Chadwick 43--Huber Souza scored 17 points as Dana Hills defeated Palos Verdes Chadwick (4-5) in the fifth-place game. The Dolphins outscored Chadwick, 22-9, in the third quarter.
Estancia 53, Pomona 39--Sam Nelson scored 16 points for Estancia (7-3) and teammate Selwyn Mansell scored 12.
Fountain Valley 71, West Covina 49--Ryan Moreau scored 14 points to lead Fountain Valley (4-5). Ben Rogers added 12 points for the Barons.
Huntington Beach 44, Kennedy 43--Chris Basich scored with 35 seconds left as Huntington Beach (7-2) held on. The Fighting Irish (8-3) missed a shot at the buzzer.
Basich and Eric Ho each scored 15 points for the Oilers. Kennedy led by two points, 32-30, after three quarters.
Andrae Banks scored 16 points for Kennedy (8-3).