Late free throws lift Sea Kings to win

Chris Yemma

So it is true -- fundamentals do win basketball games.

Four consecutive nailed free throws by the Corona del Mar High

girls basketball team in the final seconds Saturday were the key to

the Sea Kings’ 49-44 visiting nonleague victory over Back Bay rival

Newport Harbor.

Free throws -- one of the most fundamental aspects of basketball,

and yet, are one of the most important.

With the Sea Kings (8-9, 0-1 in the Pacific Coast League) leading,

45-44, and 18.3 seconds remaining, Newport’s only chance was to foul.

And foul they did.

First it was junior Katie Schulte stepping to the free-throw line.

As the home-court crowd was rumbling in the stands and screaming

at the top of their lungs trying to pose a distraction, Schulte

drained two straight and iced the fans.

Newport was then down, 47-44, and heaved up a three-point attempt

hoping for a quick tie, but it was wide. So the Sailors fouled, this

time with one second left, sending CdM junior Megan Benbow to the

line.

Whoosh, swish and game.

“It was a lot of pressure, but it needed to be done,” said Benbow,

who shot 3 of 9 from the field and finished with eight points.

“My team really helped me out. This was amazing.”

After starting the season, 1-5, CdM is now one win away from a

.500 record, with league play under way.

The Sea Kings will use the Back Bay win as a momentum shifter,

after losing their first league game to Tesoro Thursday.

The Sailors (9-8, 0-1 in the Sea View League), however, have lost

five consecutive games after going on a six-game winning streak

earlier in the season.

But all was not lost for Newport during Saturday’s rivalry

matchup.

The Sailors opened the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run and held CdM

scoreless for the first 2:55 of the fourth.

Coach Jen Thompson said before the game she was going to need

everyone to step up to avoid relying solely on four-year varsity

player Vanessa Miller.

She was right. Miller played in foul trouble from 3:35 left in the

first half when she picked up her third foul. She fouled out with 18

seconds remaining, but not before putting up 11 points to lead the

Sailors.

It was CdM’s Schulte who got the final say, though, as the

5-foot-6 junior powered inside and finessed outside for a game-high

20 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

And, of course, her skill in icing the crowd payed off, as well.

“We were doing a great job of getting to the free-throw line in

the first half,” CdM Coach Scott Kawahai said. “The problem was, we

weren’t converting.

“For Katie and Megan to knock those [free throws] down to ice the

game was great.”

Schulte drained 5 of 6 free throws in the second half after making

4 of 10 in the first half.

But she made the ones that mattered most, and played a key role in

handing the Sailors a home-court, Back Bay loss.

“My teammates just called me out and told me to make them,”

Schulte said.

“This is so big for us because we can take this into league.”

As a team, the Sea Kings shot 48.6% from the field to Newport’s

53%, but a final 13-2 CdM run, capped with the clutch free-throw

shooting of Schulte and Benbow, was the downfall for the Sailors.

Nonleague

Corona del Mar 49,

Newport Harbor 44

Score by Quarters

CdM 10 13 13 13 -- 49

Newport 13 7 12 12 -- 44 CdM -- Benbow 8, K. Wayte 8, Schulte 20, Duernberger 3, Long 10.

3-pt. goals -- Schulte 1.

Newport -- Mooers 4, Melo 9, Trobman 2, Deyan 4, Lawrence 2,

Miller 11, Bodkin 8, Eddington 4.

Fouled out -- Miller.