Sea Hawks Fall in Overtime to Diablos

Six-foot-ten center Issac Neilson recorded a rare triple-double with a game-high 17 points, 22 rebounds and 12 blocks to lead Mission Viejo to a 53-45 overtime victory over host Redondo Union in a hard fought CIF Southern Section Division II-AA playoff game Friday night.

Neilson controlled the inside both on offense, with six offensive rebounds, and defense where he altered numerous Sea Hawk shots that helped contribute to Redondo shooting just 20 percent from the field on 19 of 66 shots for the game.

Redondo, which managed to score just six points in the first and third quarters, was visibly frustrated by the size of Neilson. Redondo was forced to look for other ways to attack the basket.

“He was a monster out there tonight,” Mission Viejo coach Troy Roelen said. “He was the obvious difference tonight, our plan was to let them to drive into the lane so that he would force them into taking a bad shot.”

The Sea Hawks (15-13) would not go down without a fight, however. Redondo trailed the entire game and was down 33-23 to start the fourth quarter when Sea Hawk coach Tom Maier inserted his second unit hoping for a spark.

“I put those guys in because we needed some kind of boost,” Maier said. “Joradn Ichiyama, David McMillian and David Passmore played some big minutes for us when we needed them and helped lead that run in the fourth quarter.”

Redondo opened the quarter with an 8-0 run cutting the lead to two behind the defense of Ichiyama and McMillian, who each had a steal and an assist during the run.

Mission Viejo scored the next six points and looked poised to put Redondo away with a 41-35 advantage and just over two minutes to play.

“I thought we had control of the game when they made their run and we responded,” Roelen said. “But they just would not go away. Give them a lot of credit for continuing to fight.”

Redondo senior guard Martyre DeMarco knocked down two three-point shots in less than a minute to tie the score at 41-41. The three to tie came after Neilson blocked a shot by Sea Hawk guard Brandon Boyd that rolled out to Demarco who nailed on off-balance shot from the left corner.

“The ball just ended up in my hands and I was open,” Demarco said. “When it left my hand it felt good, I thought we had them when the shot went in but they took off with it in overtime.”

Demarco finished with a team-high 15 points but converted on just 5 of 17 shots. Boyd added 10 points, three steals, two assists and two blocks for the Sea Hawks.

The battle-tested Diablos outscored the Sea Hawks 10-2 in overtime to secure the victory. Mission Viejo (27-1) has won 11 games this season by five points or less and the last three games by a total of seven points.

“I just want to say that I hope in 22 years I’m doing half as good a job as Tom is doing. He has a real class program with kids that really play hard for him,” Roelen said.

Senior guard James Cramer scored 16 points, including four in overtime to go along with six rebounds for Mission Viejo.

Mission Viejo plays the winner of the Valencia-Colony game at a site yet to be determined.