Woodbridge stages second half comeback to capture PCL victory over Irvine

Woodbridge players (from left) JC Schindler, Jason Briggs, Jaiden Sabino and Stephen Lamp played key roles in the Warriors win. (Photo: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).

Woodbridge High School’s boys basketball team erased a second-half double-digit deficit and stormed back to defeat Irvine 52-46 in a Pacific Coast League game Friday night at Irvine.

Stephen Lamp scored 21 points and Jaiden Sabino added 19 points as the Warriors improved their record to 13-7 overall and 2-1 in league. Woodbridge has won seven of its last nine games.

“In the locker-room at half time our coaches told us we weren’t moving the ball, but we changed that in the second half,” said Lamp, a senior guard. “We’ve been down in games like this before, so we didn’t get nervous. We remained calm and started to play our game.”

The Warriors were limited to 16 points in the first half and trailed 26-16 at the break.

At the 5:17 mark of the third quarter, Cooper Stearns’ basket gave the Vaqueros a 31-20 lead.   

But then Woodbridge turned the tide of the game by applying a full court press, forcing several turnovers and went on a 13-0 run. Sabino and Lamp sparked the Warriors scoring surge and Jason Briggs’ bucket capped the run and gave Woodbridge a 32-31 lead with 2:51 left in the quarter. The Warriors led 39-36 after three quarters.

“In the first half we were playing more one on one and being selfish, but in the second half we played more like a team,” said Sabino.

The Warriors continued to pressure Irvine (10-11, 1-2) and held the Vaqueros to one basket over the first seven minutes of the final quarter. JC Schindler, Briggs and Lamp added baskets as the Warriors extended their lead to 44-38 following Lamp’s basket with 3:28 to play.

Jaesang An and Stearns each drilled a three-pointer for Irvine down the stretch, but Sabino converted five free throws in the final 17 seconds to seal the victory for Woodbridge.

“We were flat in the first half and played with no energy,” said Briggs, who scored eight points and played well on the glass. “We should have never let ourselves get into a situation that we were in, but we were aggressive and battled back.” 

“We picked up our energy in the second half and we worked our press hard,” said Schindler, who played despite registering a 103 degree fever due to the flu earlier in the day. “Our motto this season has been, ‘keep playing’ and that’s what we did tonight.”

Stearns led all scorers with 29 points, despite being double and tripled teamed at times. He scored 15 of Irvine’s 18 points in the second quarter, while Lamp scored all nine of the Warriors points in the period.

“I think the difference was our press, we got turnovers and started making shots,” said Woodbridge Coach Steve Scoggin. “ This is a tough place to win and after being flat in the first half you have to give our kids credit for playing as a group in the second half. This was a huge win for us.”

Vaqueros coach Harry Meussner said it was a disappointing loss but his team will rebound.

“Their press caused us havoc and we didn’t handle it well,” said Meussner. “We turned the ball over and they made more shots than we did. We’ll go back and watch film and address the issues, but we have to focus on going 1-0 in each game. It’s a 50-50 chance in the PCL, any team can beat any team on any night.”

—Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone