Seaborn to spearhead trio of Sea King guards

Patrick Laverty

Corona del Mar High boys basketball coach Ryan Curry may not have a

lot of size, but he has one thing that every basketball coach wants.

“We have good, experienced guards,” Curry said.

The Sea Kings have three of them, all returning starters, two of

whom will be starting for the third straight season and those guards

will carry a lot of the hopes of a Corona del Mar team that will

attempt to better its third-place finish in the Pacific Coast League

of a year ago.

Leading the charge will be 6-foot-3 senior Pancho Seaborn, CdM’s

leading scorer from last season, 12.2 points per game, and the team’s

best defensive player for three years running, Curry said.

Another three-year starter, 5-8 senior Jay Northridge, will join

him in CdM’s three-guard system. He averaged 8.1 points last year and

made 35 three-pointers, numbers expected to increase as he shares the

point guard duties with the third of CdM’s experienced guards, 5-10

senior Adam Freede.

Curry and Freede will both start and both be the primary ball

handlers. Curry thought Northridge gave the ball up too much last

season, so by sharing the point guard position, he will have more of

an opportunity to look for his shot.

Combined the three guards will lead a guard-oriented team that

will attempt to pick up the pace in order to make up for its lack of

size.

“I thought the last couple years we hid out in a zone. We were

undersized and overmatched,” Curry said. “We’re going to try to pick

up the pace, shoot in transition.”

Aiding in that effort will be sophomore Ryan Lance, who averaged

nearly 20 points per game on the freshman team last season and joins

his older brother, junior Tyler, on the team.

Another pair of brothers, twins Kevin Welch and Tom Welch, add a

wealth of athleticism. Kevin was the MVP of CdM’s junior varsity team

last season, which won the league championship.

Two other returners from last season’s varsity team, seniors Reid

Wantabe and Taylor MacDonald are expected to provide quality minutes.

“We’ll try to use our quickness,” Curry said. “We might struggle

with our interior defense, but we’ll have the advantage on the

perimeter. We’ll have five guys out there who can shoot and

penetrate.”

Curry considers University “the hands-down favorite” in the

Pacific Coast League this season, with Northwood not too far behind.

CdM hasn’t been able to beat University in either of the past two

years and Curry said beating Uni and Northwood will be key to moving

up the PCL standings.

“If you win out at home and split on the road, you’re in the upper

echelon,” Curry said.

The Sea Kings will open the season Friday at Back Bay rival

Newport Harbor. They will also be tested at the La Quinta, Arroyo

Grande and Estancia tournaments, where CdM will attempt to establish

itself as a team that forces mistakes and capitalizes on them.

“We’re going to have to rebound and find cheap baskets,” Curry

said. “We need to create easy opportunities. I’d like to see us score

six, 10, 12 cheap points a game.”

Those will make up for what the Sea Kings lack in size with

Seaborn and 6-4 senior Joe Kabaklian the team’s tallest players.

While height may be lacking, there are plenty of other things for

Curry to like entering the season.

“I like our attitude,” Curry said. “I like our work ethic. We’re

all excited and we’re entering the season with expectations. Now it’s

up to the coaching staff and the players to get things done.”