Corona del Mar Can’t Recover After a Slow First Quarter Against Sierra Canyon (65-95)

Maxwell Scott dropped 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough. A disastrous first quarter — Sierra Canyon outscored the Sea Kings 29–11 out of the gate — put Corona del Mar in a hole it couldn’t climb out of, and the Trailblazers walked away with a 95–65 win on Tuesday night.

The first quarter set the tone entirely. CdM shot poorly and allowed Sierra Canyon to build an 18-point lead before the game had any rhythm. The Sea Kings responded with a strong second quarter — outscoring the Trailblazers 25–21 — to pull within striking distance at halftime. Luke Mirhashemi was efficient all night, and his three-pointer shooting (3-for-4 from deep) kept Corona del Mar from falling further behind in the half. Ryan Mansouri ran the offense with five assists, helping generate enough movement to claw some of the deficit back.

The third quarter erased all of that progress. Sierra Canyon went back to work and outscored CdM 27–12, effectively putting the game away. Oliver Nakra battled for 14 points, though he had to work for it — finishing 4-of-13 from the field. Scott was a constant presence, going 8-of-16 from the floor and hitting three threes, but there wasn’t enough firepower around him to answer Sierra Canyon’s run. Mirhashemi added 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and contributed a block in what was one of the cleaner individual performances of the night for Corona del Mar. The fourth quarter was competitive — the Sea Kings actually edged Sierra Canyon 17–18 in the final frame — but the deficit was long past recoverable.

The loss drops CdM below where they want to be as the season winds down. The offensive pieces are clearly there — Scott, Mirhashemi, and Nakra give this team real scoring depth — but Tuesday showed that letting a high-level opponent get comfortable early can be impossible to fix. The Sea Kings will need a sharper start next time out.

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