Basketball: The Jones Effect

Tony Altobelli

CORONA DEL MAR - For Corona del Mar High boys basketball alumnus,

Casey Jones, the “thrill of victory” has now been replaced with the

“agony of da feet” when it comes to the upcoming Jack Errion Memorial

Alumni Basketball Tournament.

“We won this thing about four or five years ago and once before that,”

Jones, Class of 1973, said. “I think now those days have passed us by.

Now we play and end rather early, pop a couple of Advil and we all head

over to my house right around the corner and jump in the pool and have a

barbecue.”

Jones was a hoops standout for the Sea Kings in the early ‘70s before

heading to USC and then over in Australia.

“Newport Harbor and CdM had a strong hoops tradition in the ‘60s and

it carried over into the ‘70s,” Jones said. “That tradition is still

going as strong as ever today.”

After returning from Australia in 1992, Jones has been a yearly

participant in the Errion tournament, now in it’s 12th year of existence.

“With the exception of a year or two for knee surgery, I’ve been there

each year,” Jones said. “It’s a great way to see some friends that you

can’t see all the time. Some friends of mine travel as far away as San

Francisco to make it to this thing. It’s a great way to catch up.”

The tournament is named after Jack Errion, who coached the Sea Kings

from 1977-86 after a long career at St. Anthony’s High. He retired after

coaching at CdM and passed away a couple of years later.

“It’s great to see people from this area and outside this area come

together and show an interest in this tournament and the program here,”

current Sea Kings Coach Paul Orris said. “I still see stories exchanged

and old friends reacquainted. It’s great to be a part of it all.”

This year’s tournament will take place July 29 at the CdM gym. There

will be 18-20 teams in this year’s event, including Jones’ group from way

back when.

“Since we’re the oldest group, we get a pack of years, instead of all

of being from one year,” Jones said. “Last year, we had a player from

1969, but usually, it’s from 1973-76.”

Jones, who has a son attending CdM, would love to remain part of this

tournament to have a father-son battle.

“I want to play in this thing until I can play my son in it,” Jones

said. “He’s currently a sophomore and he’s more into football, but he

also plays some basketball. I’d love to be on one side of the court and

see him on the other.”

For more tournament information, call John Upham at (714) 429-5774 or

Robert Hess at (949) 757-2800.