Boys basketball: The title run

Barry Faulkner

Most of the players on Estancia High’s 1990-91 CIF State Division

III boys basketball champion need to visit their parents’ house to see

any of the team pictures, trophies or press clippings that detail their

historic campaign.

Coach Tim O’Brien still has a small collection of photos and other

items on a wall in his garage, as well as a picture in his office at

Northwood High of the Oakland Coliseum Arena scoreboard, displaying the

82-72 victory over Washington High of Fremont in the state title game.

For those who don’t have these resources at their disposal, here’s a

look back at the road to Oakland that concluded exactly 10 years ago

today.

The Eagles opened the season 7-0, before dropping a 53-51 verdict to

Huntington Beach. A four-game winning streak followed, before Edison

earned a 62-56 double-overtime win that sparked a three-game losing skid.

After the Eagles fell to Tustin and Corona del Mar, however, they

reeled of 10 straight Pacific Coast League wins to breeze to the league

crown.

In the CIF Southern Section 3-AA playoffs, they quickly dispatched Los

Amigos, 62-34, Paso Robles, 73-41, Foothill, 70-58, and Ganesha, 63-38,

before encountering Pomona, led by Johnny McWilliams, now a tight end for

the Minnesota Vikings, in the CIF title game at the Los Angeles Sports

Arena.

The Red Devils led after the first two quarters, before a 10-0 run

drew the Eagles even at 29 midway through the third quarter.

Pomona closed the third quarter with a three-pointer, then scored the

first six points of the fourth en route to a 48-45 win which two Eagle

staters believe sparked the state title run.

“We were really flat and things didn’t go our way that first Pomona

game,” Torrey Hammond, a 6-foot-5 senior forward in 1991, said. “It was a

big upset for us and I think we buckled down after that week.”

The Eagles opened the Southern California Regionals on the road three

days later against San Diego Section champion Ramona, which featured

future NBA performer Travis Knight.

“I really believe that was the game that put us through,” Paul

McDaniels, the Eagles’ senior point guard in ‘91, said of the 84-68 win.

“Our backs were against the wall, we were on the road, in a small gym

that was packed. Some of our fans who drove down were turned away. There

may have been some doubts about whether we wanted it bad enough to win

three games in five days, but we played our best game of the year that

night. We shot about 60% or 70% from the three-point line and won easily.

“After that, I remember talking as a team and we all said ‘We’re going

to do this.’ It was like (a state title) was our destiny.”

Senior guard Mike Haas poured in a career-high 32 points against

Ramona.

The Eagles then topped Southern Section 3-A champion Servite, 56-47,

at Cypress College, to earn a rematch with Pomona in the SoCal final at

the Sports Arena.

This time, the Eagles broke open a close game with an 11-0 run to

close the third quarter, which created a 43-29 lead.

Junior forward Son Ly scored six straight points during one

fourth-quarter stretch and finished with 21 points.

Matt Fuerbringer, a 6-5 junior, added 16 points, while Hammond chipped

in 14 points and 20 rebounds.

After a week of preparation and media hype, the Eagles and many of

their fans ventured to Oakland for a Saturday Morning showdown with

Washington’s Huskies.

The game began promisingly enough for Washington, which took a 3-0

lead.

But back-to-back three-pointers by Ly and McDaniels keyed a 17-0

Estancia blitz, which ended with another McDaniels’ three ball, to put

the Eagles in command for good.

Fuerbringer (four points), Haas (two) and Hammond (two) also

contributed to the run, which came in a span of 5:46 and delighted the

Estancia faithful.

Estancia had a 44-29 halftime lead and Haas, who finished with a

game-high 27, hit two third-quarter three-pointers, as well as a 19-foot

two-pointer. But three straight Washington three-pointers, as well as a

3-0 run to close the quarter, helped the Huskies close to within 59-53

heading into the final eight minutes.

Haas, wearing brand new shoes, drained another three to start the

fourth and the Huskies never got closer than five, as Estancia made 12 of

its last 14 foul shots.

Haas also chipped in seven rebounds, while Fuerbringer added 16 points

and six boards.

Ly had 12 points and four steals and McDaniels, the unselfish

playmaker, netted six points and four assists.

Senior super sub Jeff Hokanson led fellow reserves Tim Leonard, Tim

Pieper, Dave DeCarlo and Chris Tafolla with nine points and a team-high

11 rebounds. Hokanson, who tied his season scoring high, was 4 for 6 from

the field and added two assists, one block and one steal.

Hammond, who like most of the top players in 1990-91, played on the CIF Southern Section 3-AA championship team in 1989-90, said the victory

in Oakland allowed the seniors to finally relax.

“Having won CIF the year before, there were definitely a lot of

expectations my senior year,” Hammond said. “To finally win state was

kind of a relief.”

The Eagles’ 29 wins in 34 games broke the Newport-Mesa District

single-season record established in 1968 by Corona del Mar Coach Bill

Bloom’s 28-2 squad.

The next season, with Fuerbringer, Ly and newcomer Jim Faulkner

leading the way, the Eagles finished 25-8, losing to Stais Boseman-led

Morningside, 84-67, in the SoCal Regional title game at the Sports Arena.

Morningside, which went on to win the state crown, also beat Estancia,

95-85, in overtime, in the Southern Section final.

O’Brien, 110-42 in five seasons at Estancia, then took the job at

Orange Coast College, where he worked for seven seasons, before becoming

coach at Northwood.