Carlos Pinto

Steve Virgen

For the past three years, Carlos Pinto has listened to the

whispers in the background.

He’s just scratching the surface. Just think when he gets an

outside shot. Carlos Pinto? Who is Carlos Pinto?

It is now, the volume of the voices is raising and Pinto is

hearing. As an athletic 6-foot-4 forward for the Estancia High boys

basketball team Pinto is making noise.

Pinto has been a consistent force on both ends of the court for

the Eagles this season, Estancia Coach Chris Sorce said. Pinto, a

sophomore, also enjoyed his best performance of his career when he

scored 35 points in a 84-43 win over Whitney last week in the Garden

Grove Tournament.

“He’s been really steady and really consistent for us,” Sorce said

of Pinto. “He just comes ready to play. If he has an off night, he’ll

bounce back the next game and have a better outing. He was

all-tournament in the La Quinta Tournament. He was MVP of the Garden

Grove Tournament, last week. What does he do to top that? He keeps

raising the bar. Hopefully that bar will keep getting higher and

higher.”

Pinto’s bar has been raising since last year. He took advantage of

his freshman season, in which he earned a berth on the varsity. He

gained confidence and intensified his passion for the game. He became

determined to meet, and surpass, expectations.

“I was scared and nervous,” Pinto said of his freshman season. “I

was going up against 17- and 18-year-old kids. But, then I just

started to relax. I talked to my brother (Freddy) about it, and he

told me to just play the game and relax. I just let the game come to

me.”

Letting the game come to him, that’s exactly what took place in

Pinto’s game against Whitney. Pinto also nailed a career-high five

three-pointers. This after he hit six three-pointers combined in the

seven games previous to Whitney. He also made only one of his first

10 shots in the previous game against Garden Grove. He finished 4 of

15 from the field in that game, but like Sorce said, he bounced back.

“The only one who could stop (Pinto) was me,” Sorce said after the

Whitney game.

Pinto, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, played for about 10

minutes in the first half and less than five minutes later.

“It was just one of those days when you can’t miss,” Pinto said.

“That was my first time feeling like that. But, my whole team stood

out. They stepped up. They scored, rebounded and did everything they

could to win those games.”

The Eagles won five games in six days last week, as Pinto scored

78 points (15.3 points per game) and was named the Garden Grove

Tournament MVP after Estancia defeated Western, 45-38. Pinto produced

a double-double in that game, 10 points and 11 rebounds.

“I was kind of surprised because I had just one great game,” Pinto

said of earning MVP honors. “I think it doesn’t mean anything. I just

have to keep playing hard.”

Pinto’s attitude has resulted in his learning process to be

easier, Sorce said. Because Pinto is eager to learn and passionate

about improving his game he becomes a better player quicker. It’s

also that reason, Sorce sees a great future in store for Pinto.

“He’s absolute pleasure to coach,” Sorce said. “He’s an extremely

well-mannered man. He’s worked hard in the classroom. He’s not just

doing on the court, but in the classroom, too. We talked about

getting good grades and putting your mind to it. If you want the

chance to play at a higher level you have to study. He has really

responded. You hope he grows a few more inches. They were asking him

about him already, a Division II coach the other day. You would hope

at the rate he’s going, the way that he’s going, there’s a strong

possibility he will be playing at a four-year school after this.”

Time will tell for Pinto, who has put defeating crosstown rival

Costa Mesa this season as one of his main goals this season.