BOYS’ BASKETBALL PREVIEW:Schachter making his mark
This is Coach Ryan Schachter’s program. He made it known at Corona del Mar High when one of his would-be star basketball players went down during the football season.
“He was their running back and linebacker, and my point guard,” said Schachter of Erik Rask. “He’s just a leader and competitive. The good athletes play multiple sports.”
Schachter’s getting used to the idea of sharing players in his first year at Corona del Mar.
The former Costa Mesa coach has seen it hurt the Sea Kings as Rask is out for the year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, but in a way they’ve benefited, too.
One player giving CdM a dominating low-post presence is 6-foot-7 senior Jon Joyce, a lineman on the football team. Joyce, along with 6-9 junior Stefan Kaluz, makes the Sea Kings a force.
So much so that Schachter’s predicting big things this year.
“We should be one of the favorites,” said Schachter of CdM contending for the Pacific Coast League championship. “We’re going to pound it inside. Both [Kaluz and Joyce] create a mismatch for most teams we play against.”
Schachter’s always looking for an edge. Feeding Kaluz, who averaged 15.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore, makes sense.
Playing to the team’s strength is the way to go. Schachter did it during his two-year stint at Costa Mesa, where he guided the school to its first playoff victory in 42 years and its second league title in 46 years.
CdM never claimed a league crown during Ryan Curry’s five years, a period in which the program went 56-79.
In order for the Sea Kings to improve on last year’s second-place league finish they won’t be adopting Schachter’s former style — run-and-gun
“Instead of trying to shoot 30 threes a game, we’re going to hopefully shoot no more than 10,” said Schachter, who coached mostly 5-10 guards at Costa Mesa.
The transition from an up-tempo game to a halfcourt one ran smoothly during the La Quinta Aztec Classic last week. Only once, when the Sea Kings ran into Inglewood, the offense couldn’t consistently get into sets. Inglewood ran CdM off the court until late, but the perennial CIF Southern Section and state contender held on for a 61-51 semifinal victory.
During that game CdM missed Rask’s presence. The junior, like the rest of his teammates on the bench, watched Inglewood force new starting guard Austin Evett into mistakes. The senior bounced back, though, helping the Sea Kings take third place by beating Aliso Niguel, 47-37.
CdM will need Evett to direct the team. Evett, along with Kaluz, Joyce and senior guard Ryan Anderson return from a team that went 16-11 and exited in the first round of the Southern Section Division III-A playoffs.
The team should go deeper into postseason, and possibly make a run at section championship. The last two times the Sea Kings won a section title came in the 1992-93 and 1994-95 seasons under Coach Paul Orris, who’s now the athletic director.
Orris didn’t hire Schachter, former athletic director Jerry Jelnick did. But right away Orris has seen Schachter take control of the program like he did during his 15 years as varsity coach. He likes what he sees so far.
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