BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:Former stars lace them up at Corona del Mar gym

There will be plenty of tradition displayed today at Corona del Mar High, during the 19th annual Jack Errion alumni basketball tournament. But recent graduate Austin Evett hopes a new tradition will hold true.

Last year, the Class of 2006 won the tournament, so naturally, Evett wants this year’s newest graduates to win the championship. After all, it’s the same group that helped the Sea Kings to the program’s fifth CIF section title.

“Of course they’ll be gunning for us,” Evett said. “We’ll need to try and prove to them that we have some game.”

But Evett also made sure to show some respect.

“It’s awesome,” he said of the tournament that’s named after the former coach. “You get to play against a bunch of great players that used to play at the school.”

Some of those former great players include Chris Quinn, who was an All-CIF player when the Sea Kings won the Division IV-AA title in 1993. Quinn is now on the alumni squad that has players from 1993-95, the latter class also won a CIF title and included Quinn’s younger brother, Tim Quinn, who is a caddie on the PGA Tour for Tom Johnson.

The team won the alumni tournament two years ago and it is looking to regain bragging rights. But they know it will be difficult.

“They see the CIF banners for 1993 and they play against us a little harder,” said Chris Quinn, who is now the director of sales at Santa Anita Park.

Today, he’ll enjoy being with his old friends again.

“It’s a blast,” Chris Quinn said. “The coaching you get at CdM is so great, everyone just plays hard and everyone plays the right way. There are four or five passes before a shot. It’s a real team environment. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday.”

Chris Quinn and others enjoy the format of the tournament, which features teams made up of different years or eras. Like the 1970s team, which reached the final last year and lost to the young bucks.

“It’s nice to go back and see the guys,” said Mike Flamson, who will play today for the 1970s team. “It’s a real fun time in the morning, and in the afternoon it becomes a hard grind.”

Jeff Pries, an All-CIF player for the 1981 CIF championship team, said he will miss playing in the event this year. His knee is bugging him and he will have to sit out this one.

“For me some of my greatest memories are playing for Corona and being in that gym,” said Pries, who is now a pastor for Mariners Church in Irvine. “It’s fun to look back and remember. It’s sad to see how much we deteriorated. It’s a bittersweet trip back.”

Jack Tuz, 47, said he can’t play in the tournament anymore because, “I’m getting kind of old,” but he said he still appreciates the event. He’s in Las Vegas with Mater Dei, as he’s coach of the boys’ junior varsity team. Tuz was the Newport-Mesa Player of the year in 1977, when the Sea Kings won the CIF 3-A title, CdM’s first CIF title. It was also Errion’s first year at the helm.

“It’s a great tradition that was established,” Tuz said of the alumni tournament. “The Hess Brothers (Rob and Mike) have a great job of keeping it going. I think it’s a great tradition and it honors a very successful coach in CdM history.”

— Steve Virgen