And then there were four

While girls water polo teams from Corona del Mar High (Division II)

and Newport Harbor (Division I) learned Sunday where they will be

playing their respective CIF Southern Section semifinal contests

Wednesday, the final Newport-Mesa team to be eliminated from the boys

basketball playoffs was mulling over what might have been.

Sage Hill School fell in four overtimes Saturday night to host

Yeshiva at the Westside Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles in a

Division IV-A second-round game the estimated 200 spectators who

witnessed, as well as the players and coaches who took part, won’t

soon forget.

“There were too many turning points to recount,” Sage Hill Coach

Steve Keith said of the 76-72 setback that left both teams spent

after 48 minutes of action. “I don’t think the teams were ever

separated by more than five points and there must have been about a

dozen lead changes. It was all you’d ever want in a game.”

Sage Hill, which finished its second varsity season with a 11-14

record, including the program’s first postseason victory (a 57-47

first-round road triumph over Hamilton) was led by junior Kevin

Joyce, who scored a career-high 30 points. He carried the Lightning

in overtime, after senior star Michael Fitzhugh (28 points) fouled

out in the final minute of regulation.

“Kevin just took over,” Keith said. “He had a turnaround jumper in

the lane with 2.2 seconds left in the third overtime that went deep

into the basket, but just crawled out. Everyone thought that shot was

in and it would have been the game-winner.”

Instead, Yeshiva, led by Michael Pollack’s 31 points, doubled the

Lightning’s four points in the fourth four-minute overtime to advance

to Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

“Even the four-point difference was misleading, because we were

down by two with 13 seconds left and missed a three-pointer to go

ahead, before fouling them with two seconds left,” Keith said. “They

hit a couple free throws and it was over.

“I give our kids a lot of credit, because, just mentally, seeing

Fitzhugh walk to the bench and know he was done in the fourth

quarter, was tough. They showed a lot to keep battling through the

overtimes.”

Top-seeded CdM and No. 2-seeded Newport Harbor will continue their

pursuit of CIF girls water polo titles, as will the girls soccer

squads from Costa Mesa, the No. 2 seed in Division III, and CdM,

unseeded in Division II. The girls soccer quarterfinals are scheduled

Tuesday at 3 p.m.

The CdM girls water polo team (24-5) will host Canyon of Anaheim

(22-8), in a semifinal Wednesday at Newport Harbor High. Canyon, the

Century League runner-up, upset No. 4-seeded University, 9-7, in

Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Newport Harbor (24-5) gets its first road playoff date when it

meets Santa Margarita (20-8) Wednesday at a neutral site of the

Eagles’ choosing. Both water polo matches are tentatively scheduled

for 3:15 p.m. Coach Bill Barnett’s Sailors have defeated Santa

Margarita in three previous meetings this season, by scores of 10-8,

7-4 and 5-4.

In soccer action, Costa Mesa (19-1-2) visits Santa Monica

(13-5-2), while Corona del Mar (11-5-2) hosts Canyon of Anaheim

(13-6-4) Tuesday.

Costa Mesa, which defeated first-round visitor John Glenn, 8-0,

Saturday, has won 14 straight and is unbeaten in its last 19. The

Mustangs, champions of the Golden West League, have now outscored

opponents, 106-13, this season. Santa Monica earned a 2-1 first-round

win at Cypress.

CdM was a 2-1 winner at Murrieta Valley in Saturday’s first round,

while Canyon posted a 7-0 first-round triumph over visiting Rialto.