Boys basketball: Northwood pulling seniority

Barry Faulkner

No longer faced with a senior discount, Northwood High looms as the

favorite to win the 2002 Pacific Coast League boys basketball

championship.

The Timberwolves, coached by former Estancia High and Orange Coast

College head man Tim O’Brien, came within one win of a share of last

year’s crown, though competing in their first PCL varsity campaign

without a single senior.

This season, the school’s inaugural senior class, as well as a pair of

juniors who represent the only returning All-PCL players from 2001,

should put the Timberwolves (11-3) at the head of the pack.

Costa Mesa, which shared last year’s crown with University, the

Mustangs’ first league title in their 41 varsity seasons, joins the

Trojans as the leaders of this year’s chase pack. Deemed virtually even

by more than one PCL observer, the Mustangs (11-5) and Trojans (10-6)

won’t need long to decide which program has the upper hand. The two

schools square off in the league opener Wednesday at 7 p.m. on the

Trojans’ floor.

Laguna Beach (4-8), which did not win a league game last season, just

may have enough to pit Estancia (9-7) and Corona del Mar (4-13) in a

battle to avoid the basement.

O’Brien blends the league’s most consistent frontcourt size --

averaging 6-foot-5 at center and two forward spots -- with perhaps the

league’s most gifted player, 6-4 junior Drew Terry.

Terry, a first-team All-PCL performer as a sophomore, is averaging

around 19 points per game this season.

Rob Selway, a 6-6 junior who was second-team All-PCL last year, is

averaging close to 14 points this season to help provide a potent one-two

punch.

Among the T-wolves losses, were setbacks to Woodbridge and El Dorado,

ranked No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, in last week’s Orange County poll.

Costa Mesa, winner of seven of its last eight, also has a pair of

future collegiate players leading the way in seniors David Conte and Chad

Vakili.

Conte, a 5-10 point guard bound for Cal State Los Angeles, leads the

Mustangs with 21.8 points per game and is also chipping in more than six

assists per contest. Using extreme quickness to break down a defense, or

merely bombing from outside, Conte has produced single-game scoring

outputs of 43, 35, 30 and 29, the latter three in the last four games.

Vakili, a 5-11 swing man, is averaging 19.2 ppg and his inside-outside

skills make him similarly difficult to defend.

Junior Danny Krikorian (9.9 ppg) and 6-1 senior Carlos Jaime (6.1

ppg), the team’s leading rebounder, as well as seniors Nolan Clark and

Jason Millward, are additional factors in the Mustangs’ run at repeating.

Uni, which set a CIF Southern Section single-season record for

three-pointers last season, is once again casting off with abandon in

Coach Mike Dinneen’s free-flowing system.

Bobby Gomez and John Asnon have 45 and 39 three-pointers, respectively

and the Trojans are averaging nearly nine per game as a team.

Asnon is averaging a team-high 17 ppg, while Gomez (16.1 ppg), AJ

Moskus (15.3 ppg), David Feistel (12.9 ppg) and Greg Asnon (12.8 ppg)

also fuel the balanced, high-powered attack.

First-year Laguna Beach coach Rob Cullinan guided his Artists to a

December tournament win over Estancia, as well as triumphs over Irvine

and Century, both of which also defeated Coach Chris Sorce’s Eagles.

The Artists are led by 6-4 senior center Trevor Lyle (14.5 ppg) as

well as 5-9 senior Jason Boyd (11.1 ppg).

Estancia, which missed the playoffs for the first time in 14 years

last season, saw its bid for the postseason seriously damaged when senior

all-league returner Micah Young tore his ACL early in the second game,

sidelining him for the season.

The Eagles started 2-4, then reeled off seven straight wins. They have

lost their last three, however, and the status of junior rebounding

leader Lewis Bradshaw, who missed three practices and a game last week

while on vacation, has yet to be determined, Sorce said Sunday.

With all their hardships, the Eagles are, at worst, a dangerous

spoiler.

Seniors guards Fernando Maldonado (13.7 ppg) and Jorge Prado (11.4

ppg), as well as 6-7 junior center Joey Lindquist (9.7 ppg) provide

consistent scoring punch.

Depth, however, is a problem for Sorce, who has struggled to field

enough players to scrimmage in practice.

CdM, under first-year coach Ryan Curry, has struggled to find any

consistency. But the Sea Kings, who have double-digit three-pointers in

at least five games this season, could pull off an upset or two if their

shooters have the range.

Kevin Mancillas, a 6-1 junior, is averaging 17.3 ppg for the Sea

Kings, who have also been buoyed by sophomore Mater Dei transfer Pancho

Seaborn (14 ppg). Bret Matsen, a 6-0 junior averaging 8.2 ppg, is another

strong contributor.

CdM hosts Laguna Beach Wednesday and is at Estancia Friday. A pair of

wins would go a long way toward propelling the Sea Kings to the top of

the second division.