Carlos Pinto

Patrick Laverty

Watching Carlos Pinto shoot a basketball, swishing one three-pointer

after another, it looks like he’s been doing it all his life.

Seeing the Estancia High stalwart post up his opponent, spin to

the baseline and drop in a fall-away jumper, brings to mind images of

the relentless work Pinto must put in for what must be countless

hours of the day.

Thus, the shock, when Pinto revealed that he didn’t seriously

begin playing basketball until the age of 12 or 13 and he considers

himself far less than a gym rat.

Despite his relative lack of experience, Pinto has shown himself

to be quite a natural in his first three seasons at Estancia. The

Eagles’ leading scorer this season, the junior small forward has

proven himself to be one of the best players in Newport-Mesa and

beyond.

“He’s definitely one of the best players, I believe, in the

county,” Eagles Coach Russell King said.

In guiding Estancia to a 13-13 record and a fourth-place finish in

the Golden West League, Pinto averaged 18 points per game in the

regular season. Heading into Wednesday’s CIF Southern Section

Division III-A first-round playoff game against Orange Lutheran,

Pinto was on a roll, scoring 45 points in his last two ballgames and

earning Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week honors.

The most important of those 45 points came in a meeting with

archrival Costa Mesa. After the Mustangs held Pinto to 10 points and

won the first meeting, Pinto came back to score 22 points, including

nine in the final 8:01, to lead the Eagles to a 39-37 victory.

“It was big because it was a big game to win and helped us move up

to fourth place,” Pinto said.

In the previous meeting, the Mustangs had held him to his

second-lowest point total of the season, with his five-point output

in a two-point victory over Saddleback being the only time this year

he didn’t score in double figures. Both Mesa and Saddleback used

box-and-one defenses against Pinto, who consistently faced double

teams throughout the year.

“The first time, it was kind of frustrating. I really didn’t know

what to do,” Pinto said.

King said his standout forward forced some shots earlier in the

season while facing such defensive pressure, but has learned to stay

within the flow of the game and spread the ball around to his

teammates.

At 6-foot-4, Pinto, an outstanding outside shooter who has made 52

three-pointers this season, is also able to post up his opponent, a

vital necessity in fighting defenses such as a box-and-one.

“He’s done what we’ve expected of him from the beginning of the

year,” King said. “We knew he’d be our top scorer and our go-to guy.”

But, as a three-year varsity player, he’s also helped mold

Estancia’s sophomore contingent, three of which (Mike McDaniels,

Scott Markley and Dallas Kopp) receive significant playing time, into

key varsity components.

“I think I’m trying to bring them along, let them know how it

feels to play varsity, what the intensity is, the level you need to

be at,” Pinto said. “When I’m gone, they’re going to have to do the

same thing.”

Luckily for them, King and the rest of Estancia’s basketball team,

Pinto isn’t going anywhere just yet. Though he’s already begun to

receive recruiting interest from the likes of UC Santa Barbara, UC

Davis and Yale, Pinto still has one more season to go at Estancia.

Knowing that things will change, particularly position-wise, if he

moves from high school to college ball, he has already improved on

such aspects of his game as his ballhandling, even playing the point

guard position at times for Estancia. He also has other things to

work on before flying off from the Estancia campus.

“I need to work on my quickness and jumping ability and I want to

show myself on defense more,” Pinto said. “I want to be an offensive

and defensive player.”

Gym rat or not, there is little doubt that Pinto has the ability

to continue to grow as a basketball player. And even with his late

start in the game, there isn’t anyone that doubts Pinto as a

basketball player. He removed the last of those three years ago

against of all teams, Costa Mesa.

“My freshman year,, when they moved me up to varsity, [that’s when

I realized I was good],” Pinto said. “Then against Mesa, that’s when

I showed I can play. I scored [13] points and we won the game.”