Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, Evita Castillo: Lighting the way

Barry Faulkner

Evita Castillo’s smile is deceiving.

Though a buoyant personality often bubbles to the surface on the girls

basketball court, the Newport Harbor High junior is grinding inside,

striving to be the best she can be, driving and diving with relentless

zeal to shake the feeling that started it all more than a decade ago.

“I think my aggressiveness comes from being so competitive,” said the

5-foot-10 forward, whose will and talent are helping drag the Sailors

from the depths of a rebuilding cycle that began last season.

Castillo believes those competitive juices were first tapped in

kindergarten.

“It was my first jog-a-thon at Mariners Elementary,” she recalled. “It

was, apparently, really close and I thought I ran the most laps and had

won. But when I heard someone else won, I was a little traumatized. It’s

kind of pathetic, I know, but I told myself I didn’t ever want to lose

again. I won every (jog-a-thon) after that.”

Debuting on the varsity as a freshman, Castillo experienced a winning

record (15-13) and a trip to the CIF Southern Section playoffs. But, the

Tars were 4-23 her sophomore year and opened this season 0-9.

Castillo, a co-captain this year, admits feeling the frustration such

struggles induced. But, she also sees the continued maturation of her

teammates and has helped foster a camaraderie that has translated to

budding chemistry on the court.

The initial payoff finally occurred last week, when Castillo’s

team-high 14 points keyed a 45-22 victory over Brittania of British

Columbia in an Artesia Tournament consolation game Dec. 22.

Castillo averaged 10 points and nearly 10 rebounds in the three-game

tournament to earn Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week honors.

Harbor extended its winning streak to two with a 31-26 triumph over

Dominguez to open the Costa Mesa Winter Classic Wednesday, as Castillo

poured in a career-high 20 points.

“She’s doing exactly what we expected of her,” Newport Coach Glenn

Albios said of his leading scorer, averaging 8.6 points per game heading

into Friday’s Winter Classic contest.

“We needed her to pick up her scoring and step up and show some

leadership and she’s doing both.”

Castillo, who also competes in volleyball and track and field for the

Sailors, credits much of her improvement to playing club basketball last

summer.

Much like the thought of someone running one more lap, the challenge

of top-caliber prep competition in the club system, lit her competitive

fuse.

“I was really nervous at the tryouts,” Castillo said. “I remember

thinking ‘These girls are really amazing.’ They were bigger than me and

really athletic.”

But, by the end of the season, Castillo had earned a fair share of

playing time, as well as enhanced confidence in her skills.

“She improved tremendously over the summer,” Albios said.

Castillo averaged 3.9 points last season, scoring 101 points in 26 games and reaching double figures just three times.

This season, she had 103 points the first 12 games, with five

double-figure outputs.

Castillo’s ideal game, including a knack for driving to the basket,

initiates from the perimeter. But, as one of the Tars’ tallest players,

Albios also likes to utilize her size and determination inside,

particularly on defense.

“Wherever I put her, I know she’s going to hustle,” Albios said.

Castillo, who scored 38 points in a seventh-grade playoff game with

Ensign Intermediate, said she is happy to contribute in any role.

“I like having a lot of pressure on me,” she said. “It makes me play

better. I want to be the leading scorer, but I want us to play as a team,

too, and keep everyone involved. And I want to always have a good

attitude around my teammates.”

Castillo said she plans to add club volleyball to her already busy

athletic calendar, but views basketball, and the opportunity to earn a

college basketball scholarship, her top priority.

Along the way, she also hopes to help Newport Harbor become the

perennial playoff team it was in the 1990s.

“We have a lot of individual talent, we just need to put it together,”

she said.