Sarah Stern

Patrick Laverty

After scoring in her first varsity game, a CIF Southern Section

playoff game in fact, after being called up to the team as a

freshman, Corona del Mar High’s Sarah Stern logged few minutes over

the last two seasons when she was a sophomore and junior.

“She was just kind of stuck in a spot playing second-fiddle to

Kelliann [Klein] last year,” Corona del Mar second-year Coach Jim

Barkalow said.

Now a senior, Stern has finally been given the opportunity to

strut her stuff and that stuff has turned into the Sea Kings’ leading

scorer this season.

Last week, Stern exploded for a season-high 21 points in

back-to-back games, both victories, against Laguna Beach and Avalon.

She added 14 points in a loss to Back Bay rival Newport Harbor and

for her efforts, has earned Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week honors.

A large portion of Stern’s points, both this season and last week,

have come from behind the three-point line. She had four

three-pointers against Laguna Beach and four more against Newport

Harbor. She set a season-high with five three-pointers in the win

over Avalon.

“Once you hit one, you kind of get in a rhythm,” said Stern, who

kept that rhythm as CdM played three games in three days. “Yeah,

definitely, after you’ve had a good game, if you keep your focus, you

can definitely keep things going.”

Also a standout softball player who expects to continue her

playing career on the diamond at Bowdoin College in Maine, Stern has

helped the Sea Kings improve to 6-9 after an 0-4 start to the season.

Corona del Mar is off to a 1-1 start in Pacific Coast League play,

including the victory over Laguna Beach in the opener.

“As a team, we definitely want to get a CIF berth and improve on

last year’s finish,” Stern said. “Individually, I’m one of the team

captains and I just want to help my team develop. And personally, I

want to make one of the all-league teams. That’s my selfish goal.”

Stern is well on her way to accomplishing the last of those goals

and she isn’t being selfish in attempting to do so. Understanding of

the team concept, Stern knows that her hot shooting will likely cause

league coaches to alter their defenses and she is confident that she

can look to her teammates to help.

Those same teammates, which are an even mix of seniors and

sophomores, have shown confidence in Stern throughout the season and

are really beginning to find her in the right spots on the floor.

“I’m a fairly decent shooter, but I worked a lot on it over the

summer,” Stern said. “What it really is, as a team, we’ve really

improved. The girls are starting to look for me on the outside and

I’m going to get that shot.”

Barkalow knew that Stern was capable of scoring like she has this

season, but because of her limited playing time, he wasn’t sure how

well she would emerge.

“It was only the possibility [of her leading the team in

scoring],” Barkalow said. “She’s got the capability. As a team, we

put her in a good positions. She’s a spot-up shooter. She’s obviously

seized the opportunity.”

Her shots have been going down recently and as long as they

continue to do so, Stern should have an excellent shot of meeting not

only her personal goals, but the team’s goals as well.