Garza seals Corona del Mar’s win over Edison, finishes fifth in Beach Bash

When Corona del Mar High junior Jack Garza popped open and received the ball on a baseline out of bounds play, Edison was quick and happy to foul him.

The Chargers were down three at the time with 12.4 seconds left to play, but what they didn’t know was that Garza is exactly who the Sea Kings wanted to take those free throws.

“When he got fouled everyone on the Edison team was saying it was a good foul,” CdM senior Kevin Kobrine said. “They didn’t know he’s one of our best free-throw shooters because he doesn’t go to the line that much.”

The 6-foot-7 Garza coolly stepped to the charity stripe. He calmly knocked down both free throws in a one-and-one bonus situation, helping the Sea Kings seal a 47-42 win to finish fifth in their CdM Beach Bash boys’ basketball tournament on Saturday.

“We have a free-throw ladder and he’s at the top of it as our best free-throw shooter,” CdM coach Ryan Schachter said. “The play was set up to get him the ball. I was just hoping they didn’t trap him and then foul.”

Garza’s clutch free throws were needed despite the fact that the Sea Kings (3-1) trailed Edison (2-2) just once on the evening. Edison forward Josh Phillips made the first basket of the game.

CdM opened an eight-point lead with 2:41 left in the second quarter, but didn’t close the half strong. The Chargers cut the deficit to 30-27 at the break.

The Sea Kings then took their biggest advantage of the game, 40-31, on a strong finish in the paint from sophomore forward John Humphreys with 2:39 to go in the third. But Edison again weathered the storm.

The Chargers mounted a 9-1 run spanning more than six minutes between the third and fourth quarters, capped by a one-handed put-back dunk from Phillips and a three-pointer from senior forward Spencer Serven, to cut CdM’s lead to 41-40 with 5:03 remaining.

The two sides traded offensive blows and turnovers from there on out. Kobrine scored on a layup to give the Sea Kings a 43-40 lead, which was answered by a pull-up mid-range jumper from Matt Palma to cut the lead back to a point with 2:20 left.

Kobrine, who finished with 13 points and made the all-tournament team, then hit a couple of clutch free throws of his own with 1:31 left. He gave CdM a 45-42 lead before Garza’s free throws down the stretch. Garza had seven points.

Schachter said the key to holding Edison to just 42 points was locking in on its two best players, Phillips and point guard David Atencio. Phillips made the all-tournament team.

“We had to keep Atencio going right and keep Phillips off the boards and from getting easy ones,” Schachter said. “I didn’t want to double and leave shooters, but we dug in and those were the guys we keyed on.”

The strategy worked. Phillips finished with only nine points and seven rebounds, and one highlight-reel put-back slam, while Atencio scored just eight points.

And even though the Sea Kings didn’t opt to double Phillips on the block, Edison still got plenty of open three-point shots. Luckily for CdM, the Chargers were only able to connect on one of 15 from beyond the arc.

“We’re pretty long on the perimeter,” Schachter said. “I’d like to say it was our defense, but it probably wasn’t. Sometimes they go [in] and sometimes they don’t.”

*

Corona del Mar 47, Edison 42

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Edison 13 – 14 – 6 – 9 — 42

Corona del Mar 14 – 16 – 10 – 7 — 47

E – Serven 15, Phillips 9, Atencio 8, Palma 6, Garnett 4.

3-pt. goals – Serven 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

CdM – Kobrine 13, Humphreys 8, Garza 7, Flood 7, Coffman 3, Hamilton 3, Stone 3, Sadeghi 3.

3-pt. goals – Coffman 1, Garza 1, Hamilton 1, Stone 1, Sadeghi 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

DEVIN UGLAND is a contributor to Times Community News. Follow him on Twitter: @Devin_Ugland