Boys basketball: Approaching new heights

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - If the CIF Southern Section had a 6-foot-and-under

league, the Costa Mesa High boys basketball team might very well be the

favorite.

As it is, Coach Bob Serven’s Mustangs have no shortage of talented

perimeter players as they attempt to follow up the program’s watershed

season.

“We’re going to try to build on last year,” said Serven, who guided

Mesa to a share of the 2001 Pacific Coast League title, the school’s

first league crown in its 41 varsity campaigns.

The Mustangs have gone 17-10 the last two years under Serven, whose

arrival brought a crisp halt to the school’s 16-year streak without a

winning season.

“Our goal is to try to defend our league championship (shared with

University),” Serven said. “That has to be our goal.”

Senior guards David Conte and Chad Vakili, who both started last

season, lead a nucleus of returners that also includes senior Nolan

Clark, junior Danny Krikorian and senior Jason Millward.

The 5-10 Conte committed early to Cal State Los Angeles and Serven

believes he will be one of the top point guards in Orange County.

“He’s a good passer, a good floor leader and he can score,” Serven

said of the first-team All-PCL and All-Newport-Mesa District performer,

who averaged 12.2 points, 5.8 assists and drained 49 three-pointers as a

junior. “He’s also a good defender and he has a good basketball IQ.”

The 5-11 Vakili, whose 52 three-pointers were second only to senior

Steve Whittaker’s 80 last season (the sank 242 from beyond the arc),

averaged 10.9 points as a junior.

“Chad has really worked hard on his game,” Serven said. “His

medium-range jumper and his ball handling have improved and he is another

guy with a high basketball IQ.”

Clark (5.6 ppg last year) and Krikorian (3.9 ppg) will help fill the

perimeter void left by the graduation of Whittaker, now coaching Mesa’s

freshman team.

Filling the sizable shoes of 6-7 center Mike Payne, however, is a bit

more problematic.

Payne averaged 10.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and four blocks en route to

all-district and second-team all-league honors last year. But Serven

believes Millward, and fellow 6-3 senior Carlos Jaime, up from the junior

varsity, will contribute their fair share in the paint.

“We need those guys to rebound and be efficient for us,” Serven said.

Jordan Stroman, a 6-3 sophomore up from the freshman team, is another

option inside, though Serven also likes his potential as a perimeter

player.

Senior Estancia transfer Freddy Rodriguez, a 6-1 guard, should also

help out, though Serven said a nagging hamstring injury sustained in

football, as well as his inability to work with his new teammates during

the 11-game football season, could postpone Rodriguez’s ascent in the

rotation.

“I’m not counting on him until around Christmas,” Serven said.

Senior guards Jeremy Ball, Dean Kohara, Justin Rowe and Dan Trinh are

all four-year members of the program, who have shown they will push their

teammates by working hard in practice, Serven said.

Serven identified defense and rebounding as the keys to this year’s

success, since he is not worried about offensive production.

“Our players are very complementary to each other and nobody is

worried about how many points they get,” Serven said. “And these guys are

all very, very coachable.”

In his continuing commitment to build a program worthy of respect,

Serven scheduled Mater Dei for a Dec. 7 nonleague home game. The

Mustangs, who open Monday at 6 p.m. against Servite in the first round of

the Taco Company Tournament at Loara High, will also face the Friars in

the Nike Extravaganza, scheduled Feb. 2 at the Long Beach State Pyramid.

Serven believes Northwood, led by former Estancia High and Orange

Coast College head man Tim O’Brien, is the favorite in the PCL.

Also on the Mustangs’ list of goals is to record the school’s first

win in the CIF playoffs.

“My main goal is that we go out and play hard every night,” Serven

said. “If we play hard every night, the other things will take care of

themselves.”

Costa Mesa boys roster

3 David Conte 5-10 Sr.

5 Freddy Rodriguez 6-1 Sr.

10 Danny Krikorian 6-0 Jr.

12 Justin Rowe 5-11 Sr.

20 Jeremy Ball 5-9 Sr.

21 Dean Kohara 5-10 Sr.

22 Dan Trinh 5-8 Sr.

23 Chad Vakili 5-11 Sr.

24 Nolan Clark 5-10 Sr.

31 Carlos Jaime 6-1 Sr.

33 Jordan Stroman 6-3 So.

44 Jason Millward 6-3 Sr.

Coach: Bob Serven