Updated: Jan 13, 2008 - 22:38:53 PST

HIGH SCHOOLS:
By David Carrillo Pe�aloza

This year�s Battle of the Bay boys� basketball game was moved from the start of  the season to during league play.� The decision to Newport Harbor Coach Larry Hirst made sense, as he said about 1,700 fans attended the game in which CdM won, 47-32, on the road Saturday night.

�I really loved the whole environment, a packed house, a Saturday night. It was a good-old fashion backyard brawl,� said Hirst in his 13th year at Newport Harbor. �You always miss the days when we were in the same league together and we could�ve played twice and then we could�ve had a rematch back at their place.

�We decided to change [the date] even though we�re in the middle of league because of this reason. We just felt like it was kind of cheating the student body because they always had football kids missing, I had football kids missing [at the start of the season]. It just seemed like you really truly weren�t playing with full squads.�

CdM Coach Ryan Schachter agreed.

�Unbelievable,� Schachter described the experience. �This was great. Last year wasn�t so big. I loved this.�

Laughter broke out before the Corona del Mar High boys� basketball team was introduced at home in a Pacific Coast League showdown with Laguna Hills Friday.

The public address announcer called the Sea Kings the �Sea Queens.� He corrected himself seconds later. Maybe the slip had something to do with the CdM girls� basketball team playing the Hawks at home in the early game that day.

The boys went on to win, 68-53, helping CdM beat the team it lost to last year and had to share the league title with because of the loss. CdM is 13-5 and 2-0 in league heading into the week.