Scott McCullough; Former O.C. Prep Basketball Star

Scott M. McCullough, a former basketball standout at Capistrano Valley High, has been killed in an auto accident near Lake Tahoe.

According to a Nevada Highway Patrol report, McCullough’s Jeep collided head-on with a pickup truck about 11 p.m. Monday on Nevada Highway 28 east of Lake Tahoe.

McCullough, 32, who was alone in his vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the truck, Corey Jacob Colman, 16, of Colfax, Calif., and a passenger, Adam Peabody, 17, of Auburn, Calif., were not seriously injured.

McCullough was born Jan. 3, 1969, in Waltham, Mass. He was an All-South Coast League guard for Capistrano Valley in 1987, averaging 19 points as a senior. McCullough played for Mesa College in Grand Junction, Colo., and Saddleback College. Later he attended Chico State.

“I remember Scott as being very competitive,” said Mark Thornton, a former Capistrano Valley basketball coach who is now at Dana Hills High.

“He always played his heart out. He loved basketball.”

McCullough’s sister, Susan Teague of Laguna Niguel, said McCullough considered Lake Forest his home but had been working as a card dealer at the Biltmore Tahoe Lodge and Casino in Lake Tahoe and as a bartender at a nearby golf course.

“He had been working in Lake Tahoe in the summers and Las Vegas at other times for several years,” Teague said. He also coached youth basketball teams, she said.

A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at McCormick & Son Mortuary in Laguna Hills, with viewing from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Teague said.

McCullough is survived by his sister and her husband, Tim Teague; by his mother, Mary Ellen Singer of Lake Forest; and by his brother and sister-in-law, Dan and Jessica McCullough of Newport News, Va.