Spanning generations

Bryce Alderton

Sometimes, when soon-to-be Newport Harbor High freshman Kyle Caldwell

steps on the basketball court, he recalls the little pieces of advice

his grandfather, the legendary George Yardley, gave him.

On Friday, Caldwell, 14, needed only to look toward the sidelines

to refresh his memory of what the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer

taught him about shooting. Yardley, 75, taking in Newport’s first

game of a tournament named after him, the George Yardley Summer Cage

Classic, watched his grandson from a wheelchair in the Harbor gym,

where he honed the skills that would lead to stardom at Stanford and

being named a six-time NBA All-Star.

“Bank shots, [Yardley] taught me to shoot with a lot of rotation,”

said Caldwell, who scored two points and took two rebounds in

Newport’s 58-27 victory over Katella while Yardley, who is battling

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, looked on.

“[Yardley] is a true blue, loyal fan,” said Larry Hirst, Newport’s

boys basketball coach and tournament director. “You’ve got second-

and third-generation kids playing on the same floor that their

grandparents played on. That shows what is so special about this

community.”

Caldwell said he wasn’t nervous about playing in a tournament

named for his grandfather and was honored to compete with the varsity

team.

“I was playing my normal game. I didn’t try to change anything,”

Caldwell said. “It’s more competitive and there are taller guys [at

the varsity level].”

Caldwell, at 6-foot-4, was one of the taller players on the court

Friday and contributed to Newport’s smothering defense that forced 16

turnovers, several coming when a Katella ballhandler would drive the

lane, where two or three Newport defenders would wait.

“We pressured and hassled them from throwing [the ball] into the

post,” Caldwell said.

Junior Dennis Heenan led Newport with 16 points and six rebounds

while senior teammate Taylor Young tallied 12 points and five

rebounds. Senior Alex Orth tallied three assist while junior Ted

Slater made four steals.

Newport, which never trailed, burst to a 10-2 lead the first two

minutes and 30 seconds of the game and led by 33 with five minutes

left in the fourth quarter.

Newport faces Villa Park in the second round at 2 p.m. today at

Harbor.

In other tournament play Friday, Northwood edged Estancia, 66-64,

while Redondo Union defeated Corona del Mar, 70-26. CdM faces

Chaparral at 10:30 a.m. today at Estancia. Estancia plays either

Santa Ana Valley or La Costa Canyon at 9 a.m. at Estancia.

Each of the 24 teams are guaranteed four games.

For Yardley, there are three more chances to watch his beloved

Sailors and a generation looking up to him.