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, and Davis added 15 points.

Damian Navarro led Mission Viejo with 20 points.

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

—Michael Huntley

CYPRESS 61, CANYON 60: Cypress coach Derek Mitchell and his players knew they were going up against arguably the best player in Orange County in Canyon’s Brandon Benjamin in the Crestview League game at Canyon High.

So, it was no surprise that Benjamin scored a game-high 31points, his average this season.

But Cypress did stop Benjamin on some second-half possessions and kept the 6-6 forward from taking a shot on key possessions in the final seconds, which enabled the Centurions to grab the victory.

The win by Cypress (17-9, 3-3) tightens the race in the balanced league.

Canyon (19-7, 4-2), which had taken over first place after a 66-38 victory over Foothill on Thursday, drops to second place and Crean Lutheran (12-10, 4-1) moves into first. The Saints had a 57-53 victory over La Habra on Friday.

The Centurions, who had been in a third-place tie with La Habra, are now in third by themselves while the Highlanders (18-8, 2-4) drop to fourth.

—Lou Ponsi

IRVINE 66, SAGE HILL 37: Putting on a masterclass in ball movement and unselfishness, Irvine won the Pacific Coast League’s battle of the unbeatens with a decisive victory behind Cooper Stearns and Co.

The Vaqueros blocked out. They found the open man. They made crisp passes and worked the ball like they were in a different league.

“Everything tonight was a step above because we rose to the occasion,” said Harry Meussner, who is in his fourth season as Irvine’s head coach.

The Vaqueros (22-2, 6-0) have won 15 consecutive games.

Irvine was 11 of 20 shooting in the first half, and 8 of 15 in the third quarter. It was 10 of 21 from the 3-point arc.

Stearns scored 26 points, including 13 in the third quarter as the Vaqueros expanded its lead to 51-25.

—Martin Henderson