El Toro Tops Cold-Shooting Capistrano Valley, 58-41

About the time the new year dawned, the members of the Capistrano Valley boys’ basketball team inexplicably lost their shooting touch. It was only a matter of time before it caught up with them.

It happened Friday night when No. 8 El Toro beat Capistrano Valley, 58-41, in the Chargers’ gymnasium.

Capistrano Valley made only 13 of 50 field-goal attempts and three of 16 three-point shots.

El Toro had its problems too. Guard Ashkan Nazeri twisted an ankle during the game and sixth man Kyle Martin may have injured a ligament in his hand. But the Chargers, who have lost senior forward Wes DeCoite for the season with a broken foot, got good reserve efforts from 6-4 forward Steve Gallups and 6-foot guard Jordan Doddridge.

The Cougars (12-7, 2-1) had created quite a stir coming into the game, having beaten one of the South Coast League’s favorites, San Clemente, and Mission Viejo.

“But we stole those two games, literally,” Capistrano Valley Coach Brian Mulligan said. “We just haven’t shot well in five or six games and it’s going to kill us eventually.”

That was the case against the taller Chargers (16-4, 3-0), who used a shifting 1-1-3 zone defense that dared the Cougars to shoot over it. The victory left El Toro alone in first place in the South Coast League.

“I think we’ve become the team to beat,” said 6-3 guard Chris Parish, who led all scorers with 21 points. “They didn’t shoot well today.”

El Toro knocked down 10 of its first 18 shots, including five three-pointers, to take a 27-19 halftime edge.

“I have good shooters,” Mulligan said. “But their zone was awesome, particularly in the first half. It bothered us a lot.”

In other South Coast League games:

San Clemente 69, Dana Hills 53--Greg Bennette scored 21 points and Curtis Bush added 15 points to lead visiting San Clemente (10-7, 1-2). Andrew Spaulding scored 16 points for Dana Hills (6-13, 0-3).

Trabuco Hills 51, Mission Viejo 45--Evan Fields scored 26 points to lead Trabuco Hills.