Mejia helps CdM push past University
With the clock running down on a Corona del Mar possession in the fourth quarter, junior Ramon Mejia found himself in a comfortable position.
Mejia, a junior, picked up a loose ball and fired a 3-pointer before the shot clock expired to give the ninth-ranked Sea Kings a comfortable lead which turned into an 82-73 Pacific Coast League road victory over University.
"I saw 3, 2, 1 (on the shot clock) and I let it go," Mejia said. "I thought I was going to make it, I usually practice those a lot.
Before Mejia's shot, the Sea Kings (19-3, 8-0) led the Trojans (14-10, 4-4) by six.
"That was a nice shot to have fall for us," Corona del Mar coach Ryan Schachter said. "We wanted to run the clock down and have Danny (Cheek) go by his guy, but he lost the ball and luckily Ramon came up with it and stuck it."
Corona del Mar had several opportunities to blow the game open, but couldn't put University away. The Trojans actually led 38-37 at halftime.
The Sea Kings took the lead for good in the third quarter, outscoring the Trojans 22-15 to take an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter.
"We wanted to try and hold them to low digits because they like to score a lot," CdM guard Clayton Ragsdale said. "We ended up playing their game, luckily we had a really good offensive game and everybody played well."
Christian Scott led the Trojans with 30 points. Ben Kwan had 26, despite going scoreless in the third quarter.
"They hit some shots," Schachter said of University. "We missed a lot of assignments defensively. That's a team you really have to focus on their three guys and I think at times we did and others times we lost assignments, but they hit shots and we were in a battle."
Corona del Mar was able to survive thanks to their big three of Cheek, Ragsdale and Mejia.
Cheek and Ragsdale led the way with 18 points. Mejia scored 17 and Parker Stone added 15.
"That's a very good trio," Schachter said. "They're all juniors."
In the Century League
No. 10 Canyon 82, El Modena 64: Phil Ferragamo led the Comanches (17-7, 6-1) with 20 points and seven rebounds in the home victory over the Vanguards (6-18, 0-7).
Bryan Barker (13), Trevor Lampe (11) and Chris Anderson (10) also scored in double figure for Canyon.
Tim Davis, the county's leading scorer, led El Modena with 28 points.
Tustin 59, Villa Park 57: Matt Glover scored 23 points with 12 rebounds to lead the host Tillers (17-6, 5-2) to the victory.
Brea Olinda 70, El Dorado 62: K.C. Caudill scored 26 points with 11 rebounds as the visiting Wildcats (12-13, 5-2) defeated the Golden Hawks. Brea Olinda is tied with Tustin for second place.
No. 1 Mater Dei 111, Servite 36: Tyler Lamb led the Monarchs with 19 points (20-1, 7-0) in the road victory.
