Big Comeback Is Not Enough for Sea Kings
One day, Corona del Mar Coach Paul Orris and his Sea Kings will be able to look back with pride on the night they slashed a 23-point second-half deficit to one and had several chances to win or tie near the end.
Not now, though. Not after the sting of defeat remains fresh following No. 8 Marina’s 56-53 victory over Corona del Mar in a pool-play game Wednesday at the Estancia tournament.
Sea King guard Alec Hanson could only hang his head in disappointment after the game. His short running jumper in the lane with about six seconds to play could have given Corona del Mar its first lead of the game, but instead fell out of the rim.
Marina’s Chris Deluca, who was fouled after grabbing the rebound, hit both ends of a one-and-one to give the Vikings (13-2) their three-point lead with three seconds remaining. Hanson took a pass near midcourt, but his subsequent pass was intercepted by Deluca to end the game.
Marina advanced to play Estancia in the championship game at 7:10 tonight.
Corona del Mar (10-4) was left agonizing over what could have been in this tale of two halves, though Orris focused on the positives.
“My message to my guys now is, ‘You know you can play with these guys at this level,’ ” Orris said. “If we can use this as a learning experience, I’ll take it.”
Marina built a 20-point halftime lead on torrid shooting and tight defense. Viking guard Beau Brown hit all three of his three-point attempts and had 13 points by the end of the second quarter.
Marina extended its lead to 23 when forward Dustin Kaatz (15 points) made his third three-pointer of the game to open the third quarter.
But then it was as if someone flipped a switch, turning on the power for Corona del Mar. Everything the Sea Kings did wrong in the first half, they did right in the second. Shots started falling. And momentum began to build.
Corona del Mar went on a 10-0 run to cut Marina’s lead to 13. The Sea Kings steadily chipped away at the remaining deficit until reserve guard Idean Shahangian, entering the game with slightly more than a minute to play, hit two consecutive jumpers to set up Hanson’s potential game-winner.
