McCorkle Leads Capistrano Valley Past Mater Dei in Basketball Final

Scott McCorkle scored 26 points, and Bill Mazurie came off the bench to score seven of his 15 points in the fourth quarter to lead Capistrano Valley High School to a 66-63 victory over Mater Dei in the championship game of the Servite summer basketball tournament Sunday.

Mazurie’s scoring and aggressive defense helped the Cougars outscore the Monarchs, 10-2, in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter to give Capistrano Valley a 59-49 lead. Mater Dei narrowed the lead to 61-55 with three minutes left, but the Cougars used a free throw by McCorkle and a layup by Nick Kost to extend the lead back to nine with two minutes remaining.

Mater Dei, which was led by Mike Morris’ 26 points, got no closer than three points before time ran out.

The win, which evened Capistrano Valley’s summer record against Mater Dei at 2-2, gave the Cougars four victories in five tournament finals.

“We couldn’t hit our free throws early in the game,” said Capistrano Valley Coach Mark Thornton, whose team made only 5 of 12 free throws in the first half as Mater Dei led, 33-32, at halftime. “But once McCorkle gets going, he can really light it up.”

McCorkle scored 16 of his points in the second half, 10 in the third quarter.

Morris, who made all eight of his free throws, scored six of his points in the first quarter as Mater Dei closed out the period with a 17-15 lead.

Chris Kostoff’s three-point basket gave Capistrano Valley its first lead of the second quarter, 30-29, with two minutes left. After the two teams exchanged field goals, Andy Karich gave Mater Dei the halftime lead with a follow shot.

Mater Dei reached Sunday’s final by defeating St. Paul, 81-62; Capistrano Valley earned its final berth with a 108-77 victory over Rolling Hills in semifinal play Saturday.

Earlier Sunday, in the battle for third place, Rolling Hills defeated St. Paul, 116-98, despite 51 points by St. Paul’s Greg Willig. John Hardy had 49 points and Mark Tesar added 33 for Rolling Hills.

Meanwhile, Dominguez beat St. Monica in the consolation final, 68-58; Long Beach Poly defeated Ocean View, 67-59, for fifth place; and Fountain Valley defeated West Covina in overtime, 77-76, for ninth place.

Ocean View defeated Lakewood, 73-67, and Long Beach Poly defeated Servite, 57-47, in fifth-place semifinals.