Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: David Conte

Barry Faulkner

There was a time when the elements of David Conte’s game included a

marine layer and a morning chill. Those were days when his passion for

basketball was reflected by pavement-blackened hands and a thin residue

of dried sweat that accompanied him every week day through the door to

his elementary school classroom.

“We’d play at 6 a.m., before school,” said the Costa Mesa High senior,

who sometimes longs for the days when blacktop bragging rights were all

that mattered and the joy of playing superseded statistical analysis,

newspaper accounts, and the scrutiny or favor of coaches and fans.

“Me and my old buddy, Rudy Serna, would play every day, rain or

shine,” Conte recalled. “We’d play until school started, then we’d play

after school let out.”

Every once in awhile, Conte and Serna, who played as a freshman at

Estancia High and is now a junior at St. Paul High in Santa Fe Springs,

where he earned All-CIF Southern Section honors last season, reconnect

and talk about “old times.”

They did so Friday night after Serna watched Conte lead the Mustangs

to a dramatic 88-85 come-from-behind overtime win over visiting Pacific

Coast League rival University.

Conte made sure they had a lot to talk about, scoring 30 of his

game-high 39 points after halftime and netting 15 of 15 free throws to

help propel his team back into the race for PCL runner-up honors.

The Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week also chipped in eight assists

against Uni, which led at halftime, 48-22. His heroics followed a

14-point performance in a 48-43 league win over Laguna Beach, in which

Conte netted two game-clinching foul shots with eight seconds left.

An All-PCL and All-Newport-Mesa District performer as a junior, Conti

has given Costa Mesa rooters, and rivals alike, plenty to talk about in

his two seasons as the starting point guard.

Last year, the three-year varsity performer helped the Mustangs earn a

share of the PCL crown, the first league title in the program’s 41

varsity seasons.

Before this season, he committed to accept a scholarship from Cal

State Los Angeles.

But success, both from a team and individual standpoint, has not

insulated Conte from the pressures that can come with an intensified prep

spotlight.

He can still escape that spotlight with pick-up games or solo shooting

excursions at a neighborhood park. But, as his Mesa career races to an

end, his lithe 5-foot-10, 155-pound frame shoulders much more than his

letterman’s jacket. He dribbles daily over the fine line between running

the office, sharing the ball, yet still providing consistent scoring

punch and defending with determination.

“He has a lot of pressure on him to be the one who carries our team,”

said Mesa Coach Bob Serven, who admits his uncompromising coaching style

can perpetuate that pressure.

“A lot is expected of David,” Serven continued. “But he knows that

even in the times that I’m his harshest critic, I’m also his biggest

fan.”

Though he may scold him on the court, Serven has consistently promoted

Conte as one of the premier point guards in Orange County.

Conte frequently backs up such praise, using pinball quickness,

split-second creativity, selfless passing and a dangerous outside shot to

not only break down defenders, but entire defenses.

Conte entered Wednesday’s game at Northwood averaging 22.5 points per

game, including a season-high 43 in a December tournament win over

Marina.

Conte said the strength of his game is keeping his teammates involved.

That involvement recently extended off the court, when a series of

players-only meetings helped the Mustangs bounce back from an 0-3 PCL

start with three straight league wins (heading into Wednesday).

Conte said he is proud of the growing tradition in a program that had

virtually none when he joined the varsity. He hopes to add another first

by helping Mesa earn the school’s initial section playoff victory this

year.

He said he enjoys competing, as well as the instant shower of cheers

that accompany a flamboyant assist or acrobatic runner in the lane.

But, he said, he’d be doing similar things on the playground, if the

high school stage did not exist.

“I don’t do things on the court to show off,” he said. “That’s just

the way I grew up playing on the playground.”

And as Conte continues to grow up on the court, he still savors his

playground past.

“I loved just playing for the fun of it,” he said. “It’s different

now.”