Paper chase begins

In the age of instant information technology and world-wide

interfacing, it has, somehow, become more and more difficult to keep

track of the prep sports scene that envelopes Newport-Mesa schools.

As the new year unveils the beginning of league competition for

winter sports, including boys and girls basketball and boys and girls

soccer, I’m asked to start constructing some context around this

competition, as it relates to Newport-Mesa teams.

In recent years, before the advent of Sage Hill and releaguing,

that meant compiling, processing and analyzing information involving

two leagues. It was a comprehensive, yet largely manageable task.

But, the days of having three schools in a six-school Pacific

Coast League, along with following Newport Harbor in the five-school

Sea View League, are, I lament, as passe as the video cassette.

Now, breaking down the projected fortunes of boys and girls

basketball teams alone, involves five local schools, four leagues,

with a combined 25 schools, for each gender. Even the unique benefit

of having more than one local school in the same league (Costa Mesa

and Estancia reside in the Golden West League), is eroded by having

five additional schools in the same circuit, all of which will

require time to build working relationships and familiarity with.

My task has also has been compounded by the continuing dilution of

high school sports coverage by Orange County’s two biggest

newspapers, which used to fill gaps in league coverage that spilled

outside Newport-Mesa.

Add in the proliferation of walk-on coaches, whose complicated

lives don’t often blend well with the demands of keeping the local

newspaper informed, and the challenge of comprehensive coverage can

be daunting.

But consider it my New Year’s resolution.

*

In search of a diversion from the Newport-Mesa sports world, I

ventured to Pauley Pavilion to witness the West Coast coronation of

LeBron “King” James, whose Akron, Ohio-based St. Vincent-St. Mary

boys basketball team topped Mater Dei, 64-58, in the Pangos Dream

Classic.

James, a 6-foot-7 senior considered the best prep player in the

nation and a potential No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, finished

with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, but couldn’t have

been more disappointing. Granted, it would have been difficult for

him to live up to the hype and he, perhaps, won’t have a worse

shooting performance (8 for 25) this season. But, with misses from 20

(air ball), eight, 18, 15, 23, 19, 21, 20, 18, 25, 15, 20, 21, 21,

two, two and 22 feet, with only three of his field goals coming

outside layup range (17, 12 and 16 feet), he personified the shooting

malaise that continues to afflict the game beyond the high school

ranks.

It has been reported that Centennial of Compton star Aaron

Afflalo’s 42-point performance against Carson in the Dream Classic

upstaged James.

But, for the few among the capacity crowd of more than 11,000 who

stayed for the late evening game, the 27 points poured in by

Sebastian Telfair, a junior point guard from Lincoln High in

Brooklyn, may have been the evening’s biggest signature statement.

Telfair, who drilled five three-pointers and consistently wowed

the crowd with his creative ball handling and passing before exiting

midway through the third quarter, just may wind up making the biggest

NBA impact of those who took the floor Saturday.