Girls baseketball: Three sides to the story

Barry Faulkner

CERRITOS - They may have all come from the same league, but girls

basketball coaches from Corona del Mar, Estancia and Costa Mesa high

schools viewed the CIF Southern Section Division III-AA playoff pairings

from vastly different angles Sunday at Gahr High.

For CdM Coach Elbert Davis, a first-round home date Thursday at 7:30

against Ganesha, considered the best draw of the three local entries, was

only fair.

“Considering all the heartache our team has gone through this season,

something had to go our way,” Davis said.

For Estancia Coach Paul Kirby, a first-round road date with Martin

Luther King High in Riverside, followed by a potential second-round road

game at No. 3-seeded Harvard-Westlake, was a steep price to pay for

losing of a coin toss with CdM. That ill-fated flip rendered the Eagles,

who went into the regular-season finale tied for the league lead, as the

PCL’s No. 3 playoff representative.

“That coin flip was a big loss, I guess,” said Kirby, whose sense of

humor seemed no worse for the wear.

“I knew I was in trouble when I saw the green bracket,” Kirby quipped,

a reference to the color match between the printed bracket sheets (black

print on green paper) and crosstown rival Costa Mesa.

Finally, Costa Mesa Coach Jim Weeks, whose Mustangs earned an at-large

bid after finishing fourth in the PCL, said he was merely glad to be

invited to the party.

“I’m just happy to be on the sheet,” Weeks said, waiving the playoff

draw that will send the Mustangs to South El Monte Thursday at 7:30.

Weeks, like Davis, believes Estancia got the worst draw among the

three locals, though M.L. King, which fielded its first boys varsity team

this season, is a virtual unknown quantity.

Kirby gained reassurance from another rival coach that his Eagles

(15-10) would not be overmatched by the Wolves (17-8), who finished

second in the Sunkist League with an 8-2 mark.

The same coach also said Kirby and his players would enjoy the new

facility the Wolves play in.

CdM (13-12), which opened last season’s playoffs with a home victory,

will try to do the same against Ganesha (18-11), which finished third in

the Valle Vista League.

The Sea Kings, who rallied to defeat Costa Mesa, 46-36, in the PCL

finale to force the second-place coin flip with Estancia, would visit La

Canada (16-10), in the second round. La Canada, which received a

first-round bye after winning the Rio Hondo League, fell, 60-49, in

overtime to CdM in last year’s aforementioned III-AA opener.

Costa Mesa (15-12) appears competitive, on paper, with South El Monte

(11-12), which tied for second in the Mission League. A victory would

move the Mustangs into a likely second-round clash with Morningside

(19-7), a familiar nemesis which has ended Mesa’s playoff run two of the

last three seasons.

CdM appears to have left behind much of the tumult that has torn at a

once-promising campaign. After finishing 22-6 last season, including the

school’s first league title in nearly two decades, injuries, illness and

player defections have made it difficult to sustain any consistency.

The Sea Kings’ top player, senior Kristin McCoy, missed five games

earlier in the season because of a bruised kidney, then missed nearly

three league games with a badly sprained ankle. Still not fully recovered

from the ankle injury, she was well enough to score a season-high 26

points in the comeback triumph over Costa Mesa. She is averaging 14.6

points and 8.8 rebounds and clearly sets the tone for the Sea Kings.

CdM is also keyed by sophomore Jackie McCoy, Kristin’s sister. Jackie

is averaging 9.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and a team-hgih 3.8 assists.

Estancia counts on sophomore Xochitl Byfield (10.6 ppg) and senior

Zuyin Barrera (10 ppg) to spearhead the offense, but senior guard Lisa

Hirata (6.4 ppg) is a selfless worker and, in her fourth varsity season,

clearly the team leader.

Freshman Trisha Wase and sophomore Tisha Gray are also up-and-coming

standouts, who figure to benefit from a taste of playoff competition.

Costa Mesa is led by senior point guard Nancy Hatsushi, another

four-year varsity veteran who is 3-0 in first-round games. Hatsushi

averages 14.8 points and better than seven assists.

Sophomore Rhondi Naff comes off the bench to average 8.9 points, while

senior guard Leigh Marshall chips in 8.6 ppg.

South El Monte is paced by senior guard Evelyn Perez (11.6 ppg), guard Sabrina Valenzuela (11.6 ppg) and 5-6 freshman forward Jessica Cordov

(7.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game).

Defending champion Bishop Montgomery (22-5) is the division’s No. 1

seed, while Rosary (20-7) is seeded No. 2.