Estancia halts long win streak

Jan. 11, 2005 12 AM PT

Barry Faulkner

Estancia High first-year boys basketball coach Jason Simco wasn’t

born yet when Ocean View head man Jim Harris began winning league

championships with the Seahawks.

And Simco, 22, was a sophomore at Estancia the last time Ocean

View, the seven-time defending Golden West League champion, lost to a

Golden West League opponent in 1998.

But, just two league games into his varsity coaching career,

Simco’s Eagles gave their youthful guru a victory that should linger

among his eventual career highlights well after Harris, in his 27th

season at Ocean View, is retired.

“I’ve had this game circled [on the schedule] for the longest

time,” Simco said after his Eagles recorded a convincing 49-42

triumph Monday at Ocean View. “This is huge.”

The Eagles (12-4, 2-0 in league) broke out a rarely-used zone

defense to turn the tide and senior Carlos Pinto, a four-year varsity

standout, scored a game-high 21 points to allow Estancia to remain

with Costa Mesa among the league’s unbeatens.

“I think we’re the team to beat [in league],” said Pinto, who

scored nine in the third quarter, when the Eagles turned a 21-18

halftime deficit into a 37-31 advantage.

Ocean View (8-7, 1-1) closed to within 37-35 with 6:37 left in the

game, but Estancia answered with seven straight points and was never

seriously challenged again.

Senior Danny Argumedo’s 17-foot swish began the 7-0 run, which was

punctuated by a three-pointer and subsequent layup by junior guard

Shaun Markley to create a 44-35 cushion with 3:41 left.

The Eagles made just 9 of 19 free throws, committed 18 turnovers

and shot just 36.7% from the field (18 of 49).

But their active zone, a scheme Simco said his team did not

practice and had barely utilized this season, helped the visitors

limit the Seahawks, ranked No. 9 in CIF Southern Section Division

III-AA, to 17 of 59 from the field (28.8%).

“We wanted to play man, but we switched to zone after they came

out strong,” said Simco, whose team fell behind, 8-2, and saw

6-foot-10 sophomore Clint Amberry score 15 of Ocean View’s first 21

points.

The Seahawks, who had won more than 60 straight league games --

Harris did not recall the exact total -- committed 11 of their 14

turnovers after intermission.

Pinto added 10 rebounds for the winners, ranked No. 7 in CIF

Division III-A, who received 11 points from Mike McDaniels and eight