MISSION VIEJO — Capistrano Valley’s boys basketball team benefits from having a short memory.

The Cougars bounced back from a home loss by routing Mission Viejo 57-40 Friday in a Sea View League game at Mission Viejo High.

Capistrano Valley (18-6, 3-2) is 5-1 when coming off a loss this season and all five of those wins were by double-digit point margins.

The Cougars lost to El Toro at home Wednesday but you couldn’t tell by watching them play Friday.

“We’ve had a lot of disappointing games followed by pretty darn good games,” Cougars coach Brian Mulligan said. “We came out and we defended and had a ton of energy. It was good.”

Capo Valley played one of its best halves of the season Friday and got out to a 30-10 lead at halftime against Mission Viejo (10-14, 2-3).

The Cougars outrebounded Mission Viejo 17-7 in the half and forced eight turnovers.

“It was definitely one of the best halves we’ve had, especially in such an important game like this,” Cougars senior Darius Turner said. “Holding them to 10 points in the first half was huge.”

Turner, who is the son of UC Irvine men’s basketball coach Russell Turner, led Capo Valley with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He and Jake Davis combined to grab 18 of Capo Valley’s 29 rebounds.

Davis added 15 points.

“Jake and Darius are technically the two best rebounders in the league when they decide they are going to get them,” Mulligan said. “It’s not unexpected, it’s welcomed and something they should be doing. We were very happy with them tonight.”

The Cougars led by as many as 21 points in the second half, but Mission Viejo cut the lead to 14 midway through the fourth quarter.

Damian Navarro led Mission Viejo with 20 points and made 7 of 8 free throw attempts.

Mission Viejo beat Capo Valley 41-33 on Jan. 8 in the Sea View League opener at Capo Valley High.

Mulligan gave credit to Cougars guard Nate Williams for being the biggest difference between the two games.

“Nate Williams dominated that game tonight,” Mulligan said. “He not only brings the ball up the court, but he took on No. 1 (Navarro) and made the game very difficult for him. He was by far the biggest factor in the game tonight.”

Williams had 10 points, added seven assists and had three steals.

Connor Fisher had three steals for Capo Valley in his first start during Sea View League play.

The Sea View League continues to be one of the most balanced leagues in the county and the teams keep proving that previous results don’t matter.

Capistrano Valley is tied with Aliso Niguel in the loss column atop the league standings and has a head-to-head win over Aliso Niguel, but the Wolverines have one more league win than the Cougars.

Mission Viejo began league play with back-to-back wins, but is now tied for last place in the league with El Toro and Beckman.

“I told their coach before the game that one of us may be in first tonight and one may be in last,” Mulligan said, “but the good thing is we are only about a game apart.”

“It helps keep our energy up when we know every game matters as much as it does,” Turner said, “because everyone is so close. If we keep playing with the competitiveness and energy we had tonight, we should do well.”

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