SOUTH COAST LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Diablos Win Wild Opener

MISSION VIEJO —  After 12 years as Mission Viejo High School basketball coach, Bob Minier has seen his share of wild games.

Perhaps that is why after witnessing a particularly tense game--one that included a quick bench-clearing brawl in the fourth quarter--Minier was somewhat ho-hum.

“A typical South Coast League (game),” Minier said calmly, minutes after his team’s 54-43 victory in the South Coast League opener for both teams at Mission Viejo.

“It was a hard-fought opener, I’d say.”

Say it again and you’d still be short of exaggeration. Although Mission Viejo opened a 7-0 lead in the game’s first four minutes, Dana Hills came back and dogged the Diablos’ every move.

Dana Hills never led, though it was always in contention until midway through the fourth quarter. That’s when Mission Viejo went on an 8-0 run, holding Dana Hills scoreless for 3 minutes 40 seconds, to gain a 46-36 lead with 2:35 to play.

Dana Hills cut its deficit to 47-41 on a three-point shot by Brett Blauvelt. But seconds later, Dana Hills junior guard Keith Barnett got into a scuffle with Mission Viejo’s Bill Denny, and by the time both benches cleared, Barnett, Denny and Dana Hills’ Glenn Wilkerson were ejected from the game with 34 seconds remaining.

From there, Mission Viejo (10-4 overall, 1-0 in league play) made seven of 12 free throws to clinch the victory.

Mission Viejo received balanced scoring from Eric Cramer (14 points), Mike Boucher (13), Tom Merk (11) and Greg Amaya (11).

Barnett led Dana Hills (12-4, 0-1) with 13 points. J.B. Taylor added 12.

“I told them we were right there all the way,” Dana Hills Coach Tom Riach said. “We had some key opportunities. But we came out real tight. That’s kind of unusual for us. But all in all, I wasn’t displeased with the effort.”

Both teams shot poorly from the field. Mission Viejo made 18 of 50 (36%) from the field, and Dana Hills, which seemed to have significant troubles with the Diablos’ 2-3 zone defense, was just 15 of 59 (25%).

In South Coast League games:

Capistrano Valley 86, San Clemente 63--Scott McCorkle had 31 points to lead Capistrano Valley (10-5). Chris Kostoff had 22 points and Brett McCorkle added 14 for the winners.

El Toro 60, Irvine 45--Rob Johnson scored 23 points to lead El Toro (12-2, 1-0) at Irvine. The Chargers took control in the third quarter by outscoring the Vaqueros, 19-12, to take a 47-35 lead. John Molle scored 17 points to lead Irvine (8-9, 0-1).