Mustangs are young but seasoned

Patrick Laverty

Costa Mesa High has never won a boys basketball CIF Southern Section

playoff game.

After missing the playoffs entirely last season, the Mustangs will

attempt to reverse their fortune again this season. But first things

first -- making the playoffs for the fourth time in Coach Bob

Serven’s five seasons will be priority No. 1.

With a starting lineup that is expected to include three

sophomores, that might be considered a difficult expectation, but

these are experienced sophomores.

“I think we’re fairly seasoned,” Serven said. “It’s rare to say

that with a team that starts three sophomores, but these sophomores

seem like they have been around forever.”

Two of those sophomores, 5-foot-6 point guard Brian Molina and

6-foot guard Scott Knox, were starters on last year’s team, which

finished 10-16, 5-7 in Golden West League action. The third

sophomore, 5-7 guard Tony Krikorian, was the sixth man last season.

The three youngsters are joined by two other returning starters,

6-3 junior forward Jeff Waldron and 6-6 senior center Marko

Stankovich.

Together the projected starting five give Serven an experienced

unit despite the presence of just two seniors on the roster.

“We play well together,” Serven said. “I think that’s the strength

of our team. They play well together and they keep each other going.

Jeff is a big part of that.”

Waldron -- “A terror on the boards,” Serven said -- could be a

Division I prospect according to his coach if he was five to six

inches taller. As a sophomore last season, he averaged better than

five points and 10 rebounds per game, while shooting 60% from the

floor. Serven also said he was the most improved player over the

summer, when the Mustangs played more than 40 games.

With Stankovic, Waldron provides the Mustangs all of their height.

Those two players will be expected to bang bodies inside and Serven

is hopeful that Stankovic will improve upon his 4.9 points per game

and 6.5 rebounds of a year ago.

“He has to step up his game for us to make some big strides,”

Serven said.

The two upperclassmen will be the leaders of a rotation that is

also expected to include 6-foot junior Brandon Aleson, the MVP of the

junior varsity team last season, and 5-10 junior Duaine Wase, a

tough, feisty guard, according to Serven.

Combined, the seven-man rotation will be attempting to better last

season’s fifth-place finish in the Golden West League, which is once

again expected to be won by Ocean View.

“I think after Ocean View, second place is pretty much up for

grabs,” Serven said.

The Mustangs’ ability to grad it for themselves will likely depend

on the growth of their sophomores. Molina, the floor leader, averaged

nearly six points, four assists and three steals last season. Knox

(8.8 ppg) will be the primary three-point threat for a team that

likes to launch from beyond the arc. Krikorian provides another

athlete on the floor after averaging just under three points per game

last season.

But none of those sophomores are taller than 6-foot.

“There’s a small margin of error,” Serven said. “We’re not going

to go out on too many nights and out-talent people. We need to

outwork them and our work ethic right now is pretty good.”

The Mustangs have accomplished a lot without much height in the

past under Serven. They won the school’s lone league championship

three seasons ago with four starters at 6-foot and under and two

years ago set the school record with 18 wins with a 6-1 center.

Whether they will be able to do it again will be tested from the

opener, Monday, Dec. 1, when they play host to Serra.

With three tournaments scheduled -- the Valley Christian

tournament, the Anaheim Convention Center tournament and the Orange

tournament -- Serven is confident his squad will be ready when league

play begins.

“Our preseason schedule will get us ready for league,” Serven

said.