Basketball has return to glory

Chris Yemma

With youth holding the reins, the basketball team topped the

accomplishments for Estancia High boys athletics in the 2004-05

school year.

Under 22-year-old first-year head man Jason Simco’s guidance, the

Eagles out-dribbled, out-shot and out-smarted opponents all the way

to the CIF Southern Section Division III-A semifinals.

Led by 6-foot-4 senior guard Carlos Pinto, the No. 6-seeded Eagles

defeated Nordhoff in the second round for the program’s second

postseason victory in seven seasons, then upset No. 3-seeded Orange

Lutheran in the quarterfinals.

The team bowed out to second-seeded Harvard-Westlake in the semis.

Pinto, who scored 30 points against Nordhoff, 28 against Orange

Lutheran and 19 against Harvard-Westlake, was a first-team All-CIF

selection, as well as the Daily Pilot’s Newport-Mesa Player of the

Year and the Golden West League’s Most Valuable Player.

A four-year varsity starter, Pinto led the team in rebounding,

blocked shots, steals, three-pointers and scoring, averaging 20.4

points. Estancia won its first league championship since 1997 with an

11-1 mark and finished the year 23-6. Pinto finished with 1,538

career points at Estancia.

Senior Ray Verrette and junior Mike McDaniels were also first-team

all-league selections.

Reaching the same postseason plateau in CIF Division III, the

volleyball team was the spring’s hottest item. Senior setter Trevor

Holmes, a first-team All-CIF selection and league Most Valuable

Player, led the Eagles to a second straight undefeated league title

and a playoff semifinal appearance against top-seeded Orange

Lutheran.

The defending CIF champion Eagles, playing in the postseason

without 6-5 middle blocker Dallas Kopp -- who suffered a broken

finger just before the playoffs -- lost to eventual champion Orange

Lutheran following playoff victories over Beverly Hills, Adolfo

Camarillo and San Gorgonio.

Joining Holmes as first-team all-league selections were juniors

Kopp, Scott Markley, Shaun Markley and Alex LaGrand.

The 6-0 Holmes finished his last Estancia season with 685 assists,

127 kills, 163 digs and 30 solo blocks. Estancia finished 22-10.

Also reaching the postseason during the spring was the tennis

team, led by league singles runner-up Scott Braunsdorf, a junior.

Braunsdorf swept his sets in a CIF Division V first-round contest

against Sage Hill, but the Eagles fell to the Lightning, 15-3, to

close out the year 11-7.

Estancia was second in league with a 10-2 record.

First-year soccer coach Gannon Burks steered the Eagles to a CIF

Division III playoff berth in the winter season, the first postseason

appearance for the program since it won the CIF Division IV title in

2000.

Led by senior captain Geo Macias, Estancia clinched second in

league and finished the year 9-9-3, 6-3-2.

Junior Ernesto Castaneda, senior Bryce McKendry and sophomore Ryan

Whites each won two events at league finals to help lead the track

and field team to a share of the league crown with Santa Ana.

Castaneda, who finished fourth in the 800 meters at the CIF

Division III finals in a lifetime-best 1 minute, 56.96 seconds, won

the league 1,600 and 3,200 crowns in May.

McKendry was league champion in the long jump and high jump.

Whites won the 110 high hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles.

McKendry finished second in the long jump at the Orange County

championships and seventh in CIF.

Castaneda paced the cross country team to a third-place finish in

league in the fall. Senior Alex Cahuantzi, sophomore Alan Reza,

freshman Hector Gomez and sophomore Jose Gomez rounded out the top

five.

The golf team chipped and putted its way to a league title and an

11th-place finish among 21 teams at the CIF divisional individual

tournament at Los Serranos Golf Course in Chino Hills.

Junior Marcus Sostak repeated as league champion, while Austin

Serr finished fourth at league finals. Ben Schramm, Ryan Gleason and

Greg Les finished fifth through seventh, respectively for the Eagles.

Garrett McMasters and John Rausch, also contributed.

Senior defensive standouts Ryan Sanford, Ian Morton and McKendry

helped limit opposing offenses, as the football team finished 4-6,

2-4.

Morton, a 6-4, 270-pound defensive lineman, helped free up

linebackers McKendry and Sanford, as he was frequently the subject of

double teams.

McKendry was the Eagles’ leading rusher on offense, producing 603

yards and nine touchdowns on 125 carries.

Sanford had a team-high 31 receptions for 368 yards.

All three football stars made the Newport-Mesa Dream Team.

Senior wrestling star Alex Sotomayer reached the quarterfinals of

the CIF Southern Section Southern Division tournament in the

160-pound weight class, going deeper in the postseason than any other

Estancia wrestler.

He defeated his first-round opponent, 10-2, before falling in the

quarterfinals.

Efren Alvarez lost in the first round.

The water polo team, fueled by leading scorers Chad Kunert, a

junior, and senior Sean Goodman, finished 9-11. The Eagles, who also

received strong contributions from junior Danny Alderete, were 2-3 in

league.

Kunert and junior Andrew Fassari led the swim team in the spring.

Kunert won the league title in the 500-yard freestyle in a

season-best 5:08.81, while Fassari clocked a lifetime-best 57.73 to

finish 11th in 100 backstroke at CIF Division III finals.

Sophomore pitcher Taylor McClanahan stood out for the baseball

team, which finished 3-21, 3-9.

McClanahan, a Dream Team selection, capped his sophomore season

with his fourth complete game in as many starts. He limited Costa

Mesa to seven hits while allowing one run in a 3-1 victory.