CdM bent on redemption

Barry Faulkner

Last year’s 5-22 season was a learning experience for the Corona

del Mar High boys basketball team, as well as first-year coach Ryan

Curry. But, as it applies to this season, Curry might want his

players to remember everything they learned and forget most of what

they experienced.

The 22 losses matched the total posted by the 1996-97 Sea Kings as

the most in the school’s proud 40-season varsity history.

Six players with starting experience return, including the top

four scorers, and Curry, though unsure how the squad’s improvement

will translate in the win-loss column, has not diminished the goals

for this group.

“We want to win league and we want to win the section and we have

to start with those ideals,” Curry said. “But you spend all your time

working on the things you have to do to achieve those goals. That

means playing hard, practicing hard, showing up on time and being

prepared, staying together and minimizing the distractions that can

keep us from getting better. You can’t ensure success, but you can

put yourself in a position to deserve it. We may not win, but we want

to deserve to win, by doing everything the right way to the best of

our ability.”

Defense, tempo and rebounding were the major points of emphasis in

an offseason that included competition in two spring leagues and more

than 30 summer games.

“We spent a lot of time working on our defense, which was porous

last season,” Curry said. “Last year, teams repeatedly drove through

the heart of our defense from the perimeter and we didn’t bang well

inside. This year, we’ve worked hard on moving our feet, stopping the

ball, helping and recovering. I think we’ve made a lot of progress in

that area.”

Though lacking a true center, Curry refuses to use a lack of size

as an excuse.

“Other people may worry about our lack of size, but I won’t,” he

said. “We’re still going to block out, front the post, then make

their big kids defend us on the perimeter.”

With sharpshooters Kevin Mancillas (17.4 points per game), Pancho

Seaborn (13 ppg) and Brett Matsen (9.5 ppg), CdM lived and died from

the perimeter last season. But Curry said he would like to get higher

percentage shots this year.

“I think we settled for the perimeter shot too often last year,”

Curry said. “We can still shoot three-pointers, but I want those to

come more off penetrating and pitching back out. We want to utilize

our quickness offensively, and also create more havoc defensively.”

Mancillas, recovering from an ankle sprain, practiced for the

first time Wednesday and should be ready to go for the season opener

Dec. 5 against Back Bay rival Newport Harbor at CdM.

Mancillas scored at least 20 points nine times last season,

including two games with 31 points, en route to second-team

All-Pacific Coast League recognition.

Seaborn, a junior who played his freshman season at Mater Dei,

missed seven of the final eight games last season with a badly

sprained ankle. At 6-2, he could be asked to help out in the post.

“He defends the post very well and he posts up well,” Curry said.

“But he’s also so good on the perimeter, I don’t want him to play

with his back to the basket all the time.”

Matsen, a 5-11 senior, provides a constant example of the effort

Curry would like to see from his players. He averaged 11.7 points in

league, second best on the team behind Mancillas.

Junior Jay Northridge, who averaged 5.6 points last season,

returns as the starting point guard, while seniors Brandon

Sherick-Odom and Bart Welch are expected to contribute in the front

court.

Sherick-Odom, the team’s tallest player at 6-3, scored 45 points

in 27 games as a part-time starter last year.

Welch, a 6-0 senior, scored 68 points in 26 games as a junior.

Junior Adam Freebe, the junior varsity Co-MVP last year with

Robbie Luce, now a senior, is expected to see plenty of playing time

after an impressive summer.

Luce will also add depth, as will senior twins Kris and Matt

Cooper, both standouts on the football team that reached the CIF

Southern Section Division IX Playoffs, and juniors Taylor MacDonald

and Reid Watanabe.

CdM will compete in a newly configured PCL, which includes

holdovers Northwood, the defending champion and this year’s heavy

favorite, University and Laguna Beach, as well as newcomers Calvary

Chapel and Tesoro.