Newport Harbor runs out of time in Yardley Classic

Patrick Laverty

Newport Harbor High boys basketball Coach Larry Hirst knows he’s been

spoiled through his first eight seasons at the school.

In the waning seconds of close games, Hirst has rarely had to call

a timeout.

“In games past, I probably wouldn’t have to call a timeout in [a

tight ballgame],” Hirst said. “We’ve had guys who would get to the

right spots on the floor.”

But trailing by three, with under 10 seconds left Friday, in the

first round of the George Yardley Cage Classic, Hirst needed that

timeout due to the lack of experience on the floor.

Only 6-foot-8 center Jamie Diefenbach has played significant

varsity minutes for the Sailors and he missed all of last season with

a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

“It’s going to take time,” Hirst said.

Unfortunately, the Sailors didn’t have enough time against Laguna

Beach. After Hirst’s timeout, with two seconds remaining, the

Breakers’ Jeff Clark stole Taylor King’s inbound pass as Laguna Beach

prevailed, 45-42.

Newport Harbor fell into the consolation bracket, where they met

North Torrance at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

King’s inbound pass was intended for Robert Hunter, who was 1 of 5

on three-point attempts in the game. It was Hunter who rebounded a

Laguna Beach miss on a one-and-one attempt with eight seconds left,

but the Sailors couldn’t set up a play before Hirst called the

timeout.

“We’re going to hit some rough patches,” Hirst said.

The key to escaping those times could lie in the return of

Diefenbach and 6-foot-4 junior Brett Perrine, who also suffered an

ACL injury last year.

Perrine is not expected to play until late summer at the earliest,

but Diefenbach played a majority of the game Friday and is working

his way back into basketball form.

“Health-wise, he’s pretty good,” Hirst said. “He’s still getting

the feel for the game again.”

Diefenbach led the Sailors with 12 points and eight rebounds and

Newport Harbor was a different team with him on the court. When he

was on the bench, Laguna Beach outscored the Sailors 15-9. With

Diefenbach on the court, Newport Beach had a 34-30 advantage.

Raffi Mouradyan matched Diefenbach’s team-high 12 points, making

six of his nine shots, mostly on drives to the hoop. Hunter chipped

in with eight points and King added four points and eight rebounds.

Newport Harbor’s best stretch of the game came early in the third

quarter when a 9-0 run gave them a 30-24 lead. Sophomore Dennis

Hennan began the spurt with a three-pointer and buckets from Sean

Eddington, Mouradyan and Diefenbach followed.

But the Breakers came back to tie the score 33-33 at the end of

the third quarter and held the Sailors to nine points in the final

period.