Sea Kings dominate Uni

CORONA DEL MAR — Two seconds remained before the end of the first quarter at Corona del Mar High and Coach Ryan Schachter liked how the Sea Kings lit up the scoreboard.

The Sea Kings scored 25 points and were on pace to 100 points in a boys' basketball game for the first time this season.

"I want 100!" Schachter told his players on the bench.

Keep in mind Schachter was up against his former high school coach, University's Mike Dinneen. It did not matter who was sitting on the opponent's bench.

Schachter is not going to hold back against anyone, especially in Pacific Coast League play. He might say otherwise by pulling most of his starters by the fourth quarter Tuesday.

The Sea Kings fell short of reaching triple digits, but they manhandled the Trojans, 87-60, and improved to 4-0 in league.

University used to give CdM fits. That was during the 2008-09 season, when the Trojans swept the two-game series in league and ended the Sea Kings' two-year league title run.

No team has knocked off the Sea Kings in their past 15 league contests. The last league opponent to beat the Sea Kings was University on Feb. 4, 2009.

The Trojans had no fighting chance this time around, even though center Spencer Haly was out of action for CdM (12-7), ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Division III-AA coaches' poll. While Haly sat out with a knee injury that Schachter said the senior suffered Sunday with his club volleyball team, the Sea Kings saw the return of another of their big men in Andrew McCormack.

Before the Trojans could attack the interior of the Sea Kings' defense, they first had to get past stifling fullcourt traps. University (9-10, 2-2 in league) found out it was not that easy.

The Trojans had more turnovers than successful field goals in the first half. They turned the ball over 13 times, and went into halftime down, 45-33.

The start of the second half was far worse for University. In the first 2 minutes, 6 seconds of the half, CdM blew the game open with a 20-0 run.

Marcus Bradley recorded seven of those points during the spurt. The 6-foot-6 senior scored anyway he wanted, on a monster dunk, from the free-throw line, on a jumper and on an alley-oop pass.

Bradley helped CdM post its highest point total of the season. He was responsible for 29 points. The Sea Kings got back on track after losing to Canyon, 59-46, in the Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase on Saturday at Villa Park High.