Jay Northridge

Patrick Laverty

Run-n-shoot is usually reserved as an offensive description in

football, but it’s exactly what Corona del Mar High boys basketball

coach Ryan Curry wants the Sea Kings to do this year and senior guard

Jay Northridge couldn’t be happier.

A three-year varsity starter, Northridge has become a bona fide

No. 2 scorer behind teammate Pancho Seaborn, playing in a system that

is sure to keep 5-foot-8 guards happy.

Though Northridge is lacking in the traditional basketball size,

it hasn’t kept him from averaging 11.8 points per game this season

and 14.5 points in his last 10 games entering Wednesday’s final

nonleague tuneup against Anaheim Canyon.

Northridge’s scoring average has risen as he has become more

comfortable looking to shoot more often, something that Curry has

encouraged since the beginning of the year.

After scoring 31 points in his first four games of the season,

Northridge broke out with 20 points against Arroyo Grande and has

been in double figures in seven of the nine games since.

“I’m shooting the ball better,” Northridge said. “My legs seem to

be there.”

The hot-shooting culminated in a career-high 26 points in the

seventh-place game against Workman at the Estancia High Coast Classic

on Dec. 30, a game in which he made seven three-pointers. He added 21

points, 17 in the first half, in a 78-42 defeat of Estancia Friday,

enough to earn Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week honors.

Northridge averaged 8.1 points as a junior, but never scored more

than 12, instead dishing off to others as the primary point guard.

This season, Curry switched to a shared point guard position, run by

Northridge and senior Adam Freede, which has allowed Northridge to

look for his shot more often.

“I think it’s one of the advantages of sharing the point

position,” Curry said. “The last couple years I wanted him to shoot

more. Now with Adam also running the point, [Northridge] can come off

screens more looking to score.”

Northridge’s ability to score has prevented defenses from

concentrating solely on Seaborn, who is averaging 17.1 points. It has also allowed Freede more room to penetrate and sophomore Ryan Lance

to get more open looks.

Together, they have CdM off to an 8-7 start going into Wednesday’s

contest. In Northridge’s first two seasons on varsity, the Sea Kings

combined for just 17 wins, 12 of them coming last season.

“I just want to win more games, get into CIF and win league,”

Northridge said.

Their nonleague schedule has set the Sea Kings up with a lot more

confidence going into Pacific Coast League play this season. If they

play like they did in the victory over Estancia, competing for a

league title is a legitimate goal.

The key in that game was transition basketball. Curry wants his

team to force the tempo and Northridge has no trouble obliging.

“We need to run the ball,” Northridge said. “And me and Adam love

to run.”