Newport Harbor’s boys basketball team won the Western Showcase tournament Saturday night with a 64-63 win over Servite.
Junior guard Marcel Aguilar made two free throws with two seconds remaining to provide the tying and winning points at Western High.
Aguilar scored 26 points in the game and was named tournament MVP.
The Sailors improved to 8-3.
It has been an up-and-down season for Newport Harbor, which is no surprise to Sailors veteran coach Bob Torribio. The team has only one returning starter, senior forward Owen Saukkola, who was All-Sunset League second team last season.
Saukkola and senior guard Hudson Witting were selected to the all-tournament team.
Torribio said it can be difficult for high school basketball players to understand the need to give their best effort against every opponent.
“This is the first time playing varsity basketball for a lot of our guys,” Torribio said. “It’s hard to explain to teenagers that it’s going to be like this every night.”
NOTES
Trabuco Hills finished third in the Western Showcase with a 55-45 win over Valencia in the third-place game. …
Fairmont Prep lost its three games in the Bosco Classic tournament by a combined margin of 16 points. Fairmont’s David Abisogun scored 20 points in a 62-56 loss to St. John Bosco, the No. 4 team last week in the CalHiSports.com state rankings. …
The two-day Challenge for CHOC event is Friday and Saturday at Sonora High. Among the games is Canyon vs. Villa Park, a renewal of one of the great rivalries in Orange County boys basketball, on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Also, Cypress vs. Fairmont Prep on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Troy vs. Sonora on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. …
Orange County teams playing in the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas are Santa Margarita, which is playing in the Platinum Division, and JSerra and Mater Dei, which are both in the Spalding Division. …
Pacifica Christian went 3-0 in their three games in Washington State. Donovan Hogan averaged 18 points and six rebounds a game for the Tritons. …
Los Alamitos senior Tyler Lopez scored 21 points with eight rebounds, three steals and two assists in the Griffins’ 57-50 win over Rolling Hills Prep, which was No. 25 at the time in the CalHiSports.com state rankings. …
Corona Centennial beat Mater Dei 71-57 in the championship game of the San Juan Invitational. Richie Ramirez led Mater Dei with 22 points. Ramirez and Mater Dei’s Luke Barnett were named to the all-tournament team, as were Rocco Jensen of San Juan Hills and Kaden Harris of Calvary Chapel.