EMPIRE LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Esperanza Surges in Second Half

With his team trailing by 10 points at halftime, Esperanza Coach Mark Hill gathered his players around him for an old-fashioned tongue lashing.

“I didn’t know they’d take it to heart,” Hill said after Esperanza rallied for a 54-40 Empire League victory over El Dorado Wednesday at El Dorado.

“I felt so out of control in the first half,” Hill said. “El Dorado was hitting three-pointers and (Brent) D’Arc was killing us inside.”

By halftime, El Dorado led, 34-24, and as poorly as Esperanza played in the first half, it seemed as if the Golden Hawks’ lead would continue to grow.

But Esperanza cured some of its first-half ills by picking up its defensive intensity and began cutting into the lead.

A three-point basket by forward Matt Kordik brought Esperanza even, 34-34, with 4 minutes 30 seconds left in the third quarter. But it was all downhill for El Dorado (12-5, 2-2 in the league) from there.

The Golden Hawks scored six points in the second half--four by D’Arc and two by Eric Hargrove--as it blew its second early lead in four league games.

Two weeks ago, El Dorado led Los Alamitos, 31-15, by the end of the first quarter and lost, 95-85.

This time, a 7:15 scoreless stretch left El Dorado frustrated and unable to catch Esperanza (10-10, 3-1).

D’Arc’s jump shot broke the streak, but it was another 7:27 before El Dorado’s next basket--another D’Arc jumper. By then Esperanza led, 47-38.

D’Arc had 13 points for El Dorado.

Kordik had 16 points, Randy Wilson 11 and Mike Thimgan 10 for Esperanza.

In other league games:

Los Alamitos 94, Cypress 59--Senior Jason Cunningham scored 22 points for a career total 1,231, breaking a 20-year-old scoring record for Los Alamitos (12-8, 4-0). Rick Quinn set the record in 1972 with 1,229 points.

Katella 64, Loara 60--Brian Carlson scored nine points in the fourth quarter to help Katella (7-9, 2-2) defeat stubborn Loara (4-13, 0-4).