PHOTOS: New-look Irvine team continues growth with home victory against Savanna

Irvine’s Thiago Ida is defended by Ryan Domingo of Savanna Tuesday night. No. 5 of Irvine is Sina Saferzadeh. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Irvine High School’s boys basketball team, trying to build a new identify, took another step forward Tuesday night defeating Savanna 55-44 in a non-league game at Irvine.

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The Vaqueros were led by standout player Cooper Stearns, who carried the bulk of the scoring and rebounding the past four seasons. Stearns, who led Irvine to a 29-4 record, first league title since 1991, a trip to the CIF Division 2A semifinals and a berth in the CIF state playoffs as a senior, is now at Stanford University on a golf scholarship.

But there are some players on this year’s team who have shown promise, including first year varsity junior guard Chase Brito, who led Irvine with 18 points. Francisco Martinez added nine points and Evan Terakawa and Jalen Yim added seven points each for Irvine (7-5).

“Every win on the varsity level is a good win, so happy to beat them,” said Irvine Coach Harry Meussner. “I thought we took control of the game from the beginning and we were pretty much in control taking care of the ball for the most part which is a big point of focus. If we make a few more shots it’s not as scary down the stretch, but it’s all good, I really like the process I saw from the team.”

Meussner realizes there is a big void to fill.

“He was an incredible player and we’ve spoken a lot about him and his career,” Meussner said of Stearns. “I’m really proud of this group and I know they can be something special too. It’s going to look different. It’s every day a little bit better and really seeing where we can execute a little bit better.

“Defensively, we compete really, really hard, the boys want to be good on defense, so offensively, now you’re playing with a little different group so now we got to get paint touches, reverse the ball and do things that the basketball Gods love, play solid basketball with good fundamentals and then all those opportunities will come.”

Brito is one of the new players who has stepped up, the coach said.

“Chase wanted the ball tonight,” Meussner said. “I echoed that. He’s been so consistent, this is his first year on varsity, he’s one of our leading scorers in double digits and he’s our leading rebounder this year and he defends.”

Savanna (3-8) had balanced scoring led by Kermal Nurhussen, who had 12 points. Paul Henderson, Samejay Thomas and Ryan Domingo each had 10 points for the Rebels.

Irvine led 34-28 at halftime and 43-32 going into the final stanza before Savanna got back into the game, closing the gap to 43-39 on a 3-pointer and free throw by Domingo with 4:30 remaining in the game.

But Irvine responded to regain control. Terakawa made a basket, Brito hit a 3-pointer then scored off a steal to put the Vaqueros ahead by 11 with 2:10 left.

“I think we moved the ball well, we were struggling on offense these past games, but I think we stepped up, we were working on it lately and everyone really showed in the game,” Brito said. “I want to give credit to all of the point guards moving the ball and making me able to get those shots and I think our defense was on point. The energy was up and everybody was committed, it was a good win.”

Brito and the Vaqueros are well aware of the legacy of Cooper Stearns, but said he has confidence in this year’s team.

“I think it’s really hard coming off their record last year, but I think we have a lot to prove and we’re a really good team and we’re definitely going to show it this year and though we don’t have Cooper Stearns, we have everybody else and our team is still really good, we have so much depth, everyone is committed and we’re just a really good team and we’re capable of doing anything,” he said.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com