CdM rallies for 57-43 win

Steve Virgen

When the Corona del Mar High girls basketball team fell behind,

18-5, with 6:44 left in the second quarter, first-year coach James

Barkalow hardly worried. He transmitted that same attitude to his

squad and told his players to calm down. The Sea Kings responded with

a comeback and a pivotal 14-0 second-half run that led to a 57-43

Pacific Coast League victory over host Laguna Beach Tuesday. It was

the league opener for both teams.

“The whole time we were down I didn’t want (the Sea Kings) to get

flustered,” Barkalow said. “I wanted them to stay calm. I knew we

could come back. I knew we had the firepower do it. Once we figured

out what was wrong, it was no problem.”

The seniors led the Sea Kings (6-9) to the win, as Kelliann Klein

scored a game-high 19 points, Madison Otterbein added 13 to go with

seven steals and Jackie McCoy contributed six points, eight rebounds

and five steals. Klein went 5 of 7 from the three-point line and hit

four treys in the second quarter to keep CdM within striking

distance. CdM junior Kate Heeschen recorded five steals and five

points.

When the roles reversed, and CdM went ahead, 45-31, early in the

fourth-quarter after Klein’s fifth three-pointer Barkalow knew the

game was over.

“With an 11-point lead to end the third quarter and then (Klein)

hit that three-pointer, that sealed the door,” Barkalow said. “I knew

there was a lot of time left (7:49), but that shot had a

psychological effect. It was a backbreaker.”

Klein’s three-point shooting prowess opened the Sea Kings’ offense

in the second quarter, and then CdM’s defense took over in the third

period. The Sea Kings outscored the Breakers, 21-5, in the third.

After a slow start, which had the Sea Kings score five points in

the first period, CdM went to Klein for instant offense in the second

quarter. One minute after the Breakers (4-9) went up, 18-5, Klein hit

her first three-pointer. However, Laguna Beach maintained its lead

and held a 22-10 advantage with 3:27 left in the first half.

Klein answered with three straight three-pointers to key an 11-2

run that put CdM within, 24-21, but the Breakers scored with 23

seconds left to take a 26-21 lead into halftime.

The teams battled to three ties in the third quarter, at 26, 28

and 31, until CdM closed out the period with an 11-0 run in a

90-second span. The Sea Kings’ full-court pressure defense caused

turnovers and appeared to physically wear down the Breakers, who

finished with 34 turnovers.

CdM senior Aryn Dimas and junior Sarah Stern came off the bench to

spark the 90-second spurt, as Dimas started the run with a steal and

a pass to Stern for an easy layup. Stern scored on another layup in

transition for a 37-31 lead with 37 seconds left in the third. Then,

10 seconds later, Otterbein tapped an errant pass to junior Colleen

Marks who delivered a lead pass to Otterbein on the break. Otterbein

finished with a layup, plus the foul and converted the three-point

play. Otterbein later hit two free throws with four seconds

remaining.