BOYS’ BASKETBALL PREVIEW:Kahawai tries to restore glory days

There are several things Coach Scott Kahawai likes about his new basketball job at Estancia.

The tradition. The freshness. Coaching one of the area’s premier players in senior guard Blake Pinto. And guiding boys instead of girls.

“We weren’t singing Kum Ba Yah, or anything,” Kahawai said of getting acquainted with his players after spending the last two years with the Corona del Mar girls’ program. “Eventually as a career move I wanted to move over and coach boys.”

Kahawai takes over a program off a couple of highs the previous two years.

Under Jason Simco, the Eagles almost soared back to their historic past. They won a league title and reached the CIF Southern Section Division III-A semifinals in his first year. His second, his last, they couldn’t get past a wild-card game.

Getting Estancia back to its prominent days, when it won a State Div. III championship in 1991 and played in Southern Section titles games in 1984, 1990, 1991 and 1992, is Kahawai’s goal.

Can the coach with no ties to Estancia do it when alumnus Simco couldn’t? The players are trying to buy into it. Kahawai said making his job easier is that he’s coaching boys.

“The response time is a lot quicker with the boys. I’m able to tell them what I want them to do and they are able to respond immediately,” said Kahawai, who was .500 at CdM. “Whereas the girls, they need a little bit more explanation just in terms of understanding. There’s also an emotional component that the girls have that the boys really don’t worry too much about. They are just here to play basketball.”

The Eagles are still learning to play for Kahawai, as they’ve started 2-5.

A lot of experience is gone from last year’s team, which couldn’t do much, finishing 13-14. Pinto is the lone starter returning. Two other returnees, who contributed last year off the bench, are the McClanahan brothers, Taylor and Troy.

Taylor, a 6-foot-3 senior forward, thinks team first. He’ll be the first to crash the boards, make that extra pass and screen for someone. Lately he’s been setting up Pinto.

Pinto’s averaging close to 30 points per game, picking up the slack until others emerge offensively. Troy could be that player, but the shooter is still finding himself as a sophomore.

It’s going to take time for Troy, as well with Estancia returning to the days where it competed for section crowns. The commitment has to be there first, something Pinto said some players haven’t given their new coach.

The coaching change is a major factor. Before Kahawai took over, Tommy Rausch, an assistant under Simco, applied for the job. Rausch didn’t get it, and is coaching Estancia’s girls.

“This is our fourth coach in my four years,” Pinto said. “I thought there would be more people mad when Tommy didn’t get the job. I was mad at first, but then you just go in and get over it. It’s not like [Kahawai is] a horrible coach.

“People don’t realize that we don’t have the same people as [before] and we’re going to have to work a lot harder. They are still taking it for granted what we had in the past.”

Estancia (2-5) plays tonight at 7:30 at Orange Lutheran.