Sailors upset Griffins

LOS ALAMITOS — Now this race to first is too close to call.

On Super Tuesday, a day on which 24 states held primary elections, the Newport Harbor High boys’ basketball team made its case as to why it is still a contender.

The Sailors are making a late run to be Sunset League champions.

Thanks to a resilient effort Tuesday night Newport Harbor upset defending league champ Los Alamitos, 45-41, on the road. Now the Sailors join Los Alamitos and Esperanza for the chase to the top.

One league contest remains and Newport Harbor (16-9, 6-3 in league) is by far the hottest team. The Sailors claimed their fifth straight league victory, whereas the Griffins have dropped back-to-back league games at home, a rarity for a program that has won nine league crowns since 1997 and went the last two seasons without losing a league game at home.

The last time Newport Harbor Coach Larry Hirst stood on the Los Alamitos court a winner, he had to go back in time.

“I was probably in high school [at Edison] in 1977,” said Hirst, eyes bulging out in disbelief as he has a chance to win his second league title at Newport Harbor, a school he said has only eight league titles.

Hirst has been with the Sailors for 13 years, but he said this victory ranks in the top five during his 25 years as a high school coach.

Los Alamitos (18-8, 7-2) can still wrap up the league championship with a victory at Esperanza Thursday, with Newport Harbor and Esperanza each with three league losses. The Sailors play host to Marina Thursday and a victory to go with an Esperanza win, and the Sailors would share league supremacy with Los Alamitos and Esperanza.

In the state the Griffins are in right now, their Coach Russ May calling it a “funk,” that’s possible.

The Sailors showed that the defending CIF Southern Section Division I-A champs are beatable, even on a night in which the Griffins honored their seniors.

Newport Harbor’s Kyle Caldwell made sure to spoil their night. The 6-foot-9 senior center dominated, scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. And he stopped Los Alamitos’ Corbin Moore late. The 6-10 senior scored only one point in the decisive fourth quarter and finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

“They’re top five in [Orange] County,” Caldwell said of the Griffins, ranked No. 8 in CIF Southern Section Division I-A. “They weren’t expecting a team like us to come in here and beat them on their home [court] on Senior Night. We shocked them.”

Newport Harbor sure did with a collective team effort. Bench players like guards Jamie Galey and Taylor Friend and forward Cecil Whiteside played quality minutes, keeping the game close when starters like Caldwell, forward Max Volz (10 points, seven rebounds, three assists) and guard Michael Helfrich (eight points) needed breathers.

Once Caldwell evened the score at 34-34 before the fourth by laying in an inbound pass while being fouled and converting the three-point play at the free-throw line, it was the rest of the Sailors contributing.

The intangibles are what Hirst describes them as, Galey hitting two crucial free throws, grabbing an offensive rebound, and Volz finally putting the Sailors up for good, 42-41, on a free throw with 1:29 left.

But these are the Griffins. Galey knew they’d strike back and find a way to get their big man involved. But Galey read a pass going to Moore with 70 seconds remaining and he stole the ball, setting up the stage for Helfrich’s right-handed floater that sealed it for Newport Harbor 34 seconds later.

“I knew we had to make it to have a good lead,” Helfrich said. “Moore was coming up to block it. I just floated it over him.

“They’re beatable.”

Sunset League

Newport Harbor 45, Los Alamitos 41

SCORE BY QUARTERS

NH – Caldwell 22, Volz 10, Helfrich 8, Kuhns 2, Galey 2, Whiteside 1.

3-pt. goals – Helfrich 2, Volz 1.

Fouled out – None.

LA – Ratleff 12, Moore 10, Chung 6, Berger 4, Cheek 3, Oglesby 2, Evans 2, Richardson 2.

3-pt. goals – Chung 2, Cheek 1, Ratleff 1.

Fouled out – None.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].