Boys basketball: Tars break from tradition

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - The Kennedy High boys basketball team handed

Newport Harbor a rather unconventional 38-35 loss Wednesday in the first

round of the Anaheim Convention Center Holiday Classic.

The Sailors, who had played four games at the Convention Center in all

three of their previous tournament appearances, must now venture to one

of two satellite sites, Kennedy High, to face Wednesday’s El Toro-Savanna

loser in a consolation quarterfinal tonight at 6.

“The most disappointing thing about this loss is that we let tradition

down,” Newport Coach Larry Hirst said.

There was much disappointment from which Hirst to choose, such as:

*The Sailors missed all 15 third-quarter field-goal attempts and

finished 3 of 30 from the field in the second half.

*The Tars went nine minutes and 34 seconds without a field goal,

spanning the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the fourth.

*The designated hosts went nearly 15 minutes with only one field goal,

beginning with 6:03 left in the first half and ending with Tony Melum’s

three-pointer with 6:13 left in the game.

*Newport committed five turnovers in the second and third quarters, to

help the Fighting Irish turn a 17-9 first-quarter deficit into a 29-26

lead heading into the final eight minutes.

*Harbor netted just 6 of 14 free throws, four of their last 12, to

help squander the lead.

*The 35 points are the fewest in 70 games for the Sailors.

“On nights when your shooting percentage isn’t very good (12 of 46 for

26.1%) you have to do other things to overcome that,” Hirst said. “We

didn’t do them tonight.”

Kennedy (7-1) didn’t exactly burn it up from the field, hitting just

16 of 52 (30.8%). But Coach Pat O’Hern’s squad made up for it by

scrambling for loose balls and riding the athleticism of senior blue-chip

football recruit Rhema McKnight.

McKnight, who typically starts but was brought off the bench by

O’Hern, hoping to generate a spark, did exactly that after sitting out

the first quarter.

He scored all nine Kennedy points in the second period and continued

to attack the Newport Harbor zone defense with aggressive penetration in

the second half.

“His penetration was one of the keys,” said Hirst, who had no such

weapon against an active Kennedy zone that challenged seemingly every

shot and helped force 16 Harbor turnovers.

McKnight’s steal and slam dunk with 6:42 left in the first half pulled

the Irish even at 24. A McKnight assist set up teammate Ikechi Njoku’s

12-foot baseline jumper that gave Kennedy a three-point edge to end the

third quarter.

Njoku and Eric Aragon each nailed jumpers to expand the lead early in

the final period and Harbor came no closer than three down the stretch.

The Irish lead was three after Newport senior point guard Greg

Perrine, who came off the bench, netted a three-pointer with 1:39 left in

the game.

Melum rebounded a Kennedy miss to give Harbor a chance to tie the

game, but a bad pass for a turnover gave Kennedy the ball back with 30

ticks remaining.

Nedim Pajevic rebounded a missed Kennedy free throw, but three missed

shots, a fitting ending for the Sailors (7-4), ranked No. 10 in Orange

County, allowed unranked Kennedy to post its biggest win of the season.

Melum finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Pajevic collected

eight points, 10 rebound and five blocked shots.

Njoku (14 points) and McKnight (11) led the winners, who overcame a

45-33 rebound deficit with superior hustle.

“They did seem to get a lot more loose balls than we did,” Hirst said.

ANAHEIM CONVENTION CENTER HOLIDAY CLASSIC

First round

Kennedy 38, Newport Harbor 35

Score by Quarters

Kennedy 9 11 9 9 - 38

Newport Harbor 17 7 2 9 - 33

Kennedy - Taylor 0, Arreguin 0, Aragon 9, Njoku 14, Fein 2, McKnight

11, Burow 2.

3-pt. goals - Aragon 2.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.

Newport Harbor - Melum 11, Pajevic 8, Diefenbach 5, Peterson 4,

Cameron 2, Perrine 5, Pinesett 0, Rorden 0, Boyd 0.

3-pt. goals - Melum 2, Pajevic 1, Perrine 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.