Sea View League : Woodbridge Finally Wins First League Game

Going into the season, the Woodbridge High School basketball team was the favorite of the Sea View League’s coaches, with the Warriors getting the kind of praise usually reserved for Estancia and Newport Harbor.

But after two league games, the Warriors were 0-2 and in danger of falling out of reach of the playoffs.

Friday night at Saddleback, however, the Warriors recovered the form that had earned them their reputation as one of the rising teams in the county, much less the league, with a 51-44 win over the Roadrunners.

A concerted effort by the Warriors held off Saddleback guard Bryant Walton to help them record their initial league win.

“When you’ve got your first three league games on the road, it’s tough,” Woodbridge Coach Bill Shannon said. “We had a little meeting beforehand and talked about stressing teamwork.”

It took the effort of all five Warriors to overcome Walton, who scored 30 of his team’s 44 points.

“If he’s not the best player in the league, I don’t know who is,” Shannon said. “(Corona del Mar forward Jeff) Fryer is good but he’s not that good.”

Woodbridge, in turn, is occasionally accused of being a one-man team in the form of center Adam Keefe, but Friday at least the team got balanced scoring from its starters, and Keefe scored only eight points, preferring to concentrate on rebounding and passing.

Vince Bryan led the Warriors with 14 points and Mike Murphy added 12.

“We challenged Mike as a senior captain (to lead the team) and he did a super job,” Shannon said. “He’s our only three-year starter. We’re still a young team.”

The Warriors didn’t panic after Saddleback mounted a charge to close to within three points, 47-44, late in the fourth quarter. Woodbridge hit its free throws to win the game.

WOODBRIDGE (51)--Murphy 12, Keefe 8, Sullivan 9, Bryan 14, Bettencourt 2, Townsend 6.

SADDLEBACK (44)--Ontiveros 2, Butler 2, Dottin 6, Walton 30, Deal 4.

In other Sea View League games:

Newport Harbor 65, University 54--Wes Terrell scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed 9 rebounds as the Sailors picked up their second league win in three tries at Newport Harbor. Lasse Glassen led the Trojans with 19 points. University’s league record fell to 2-1.

UNIVERSITY (54)--Olin 7, Warren 4, Winslow 4, Glassen 19, Stolzoff 14, Farrell 4, Alton 2.

NEWPORT HARBOR (65)--Lee 9, Richards 10, M. Craig 12, Alstrom 8, Terrell 20, Sheward 4, Gerrings 2.

Corona del Mar 44, Estancia 31--Jeff Fryer paced the Sea Kings (3-0 in league play and 13-2 overall) with 24 points at Corona del Mar. Center Tim Christiansen had 14 rebounds for the Sea Kings and Tod Bearbower had 7 assists.

ESTANCIA (31)--Mooney 3, Pinckney 8, Rusick 1, Tift 6, Brazell 3, Covey 6, Trejo 4.

CORONA DEL MAR (44)--Fryer 24, Christiansen 7, Bearbower 6, Green 5, McGrath 2. Laguna Beach 77, Costa Mesa 58--Center Coby Naess scored 36 points and had 17 rebounds to lead the Artists to this easy win at Costa Mesa. Everything seemed to go right for Naess, a 6-foot 5-inch senior. Not only did he score at will inside, but he also made a 40-foot shot at the end of the first half. Bill Elfsten added 13 points for Laguna Beach (2-1, 8-4) and guards Doug Lawler and Scott Herdman each had 11. Costa Mesa is 0-3 in league play.

LAGUNA BEACH (77)--Naess 36, Fortune 2, Spath 4, Elfsten 13, Herdman 11, Lawler 11.

COSTA MESA (58)--Ma 4, Nguyen 11, Morris 5, Vogel 13, Pelichowski 13, Rodriguez 8, Kos 2, Weil 2.