Local boys’ teams strive for postseason

Now the important part of the season begins.

For each of the five Newport-Mesa-area boys’ basketball programs league is vital to their playoff hopes.

The following is a breakdown of each team and its chances:

CORONA DEL MAR

Out of the five local programs the Sea Kings have gone up against the stiffest competition.

Playing the likes of El Toro (15-1), Tesoro (11-6), Los Alamitos (11-5), Vista Murrieta (12-6), Esperanza (12-7), Santa Margarita (16-1), Saugus (13-2), Palisades (16-2), Upland (13-3) and San Marcos (13-4) at various tournaments early on will pay dividends in the Sea Kings’ attempts to defend the Pacific Coast League and CIF Southern Section Division III-A championships.

CdM (10-5) is coming off a third-place finish at the robust Santa Barbara Holiday Classic. The most impressive win during the event came in a 62-59 victory against Palisades, a premier team out of the L.A. City Section.

The Sea Kings are deep and the hands down favorites to repeat in league. This time CdM plans on winning the league crown outright after sharing it with Laguna Hills. With the strength of schedule, only one opponent below .500, the Sea Kings should have an easy time going undefeated in league.

The opener is at home today at 7 p.m. against Beckman (7-8), a team CdM beat by an average of 43 points per game last season. Two days later, CdM’s first clash with Laguna Hills is at home. This time don’t count on 6-foot-9 center Stefan Kaluz to get two technical fouls and get ejected from the game, costing CdM a chance to go perfect in league. The Brown University-bound senior is more mature after leading the Sea Kings to the Division III-A championship.

Kaluz, the Dream Team Player of the Year last season, is averaging 17.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. With him and senior forward Joe Eberhard (15.5 points, 7.1 rebounds) the Sea Kings have two key returnees with plans of taking CdM back to the top.

There shouldn’t be any tests in league, not even against University, Coach Ryan Schachter’s alma mater. University might be the second-best team in league with its up-and-down play, but its nowhere near CdM.

COSTA MESA

If there was ever a team that needed a new season, that’s Costa Mesa, which is 0-16.

But for a team looking for its first victory of the season, it can forget about the poor start Friday when Orange Coast League play begins. A win at home against cross-town rival Estancia (8-9) and Costa Mesa can do that for first-year coach Kevin Palmer.

At first, Palmer figured the commute from his home in Ontario to Costa Mesa would be rough. Forget about the headaches from traffic. The Mustangs have given him quite a few with their play. They’ve been blown out numerous times. Only twice has Costa Mesa stayed within single digits, losses to La Quinta and Northwood.

The team is young with six juniors and two sophomores. Sure there are five seniors, but most were not on the team last year. The ones that were didn’t receive a lot of minutes as Costa Mesa finished 17-11, third in league at 5-4, and made the CIF Southern Section Division III-A playoffs.

The odds are stacked against Costa Mesa in duplicating each of those feats, especially the overall record with only nine league games. But a top-two finish and the Mustangs will be on their way to making their fifth straight playoff appearance.

Anything is possible after what Palmer experienced as an assistant with the football team. Costa Mesa sneaked into the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs with a 3-8 record after going 2-1 in league. Costa Mesa lost, 34-0, to Pacifica in the opening round, but in a four-team league, crazy things are bound to happen.

One of those is trying to end this losing streak, one that mirrors the one from the 1997-98 season in which Costa Mesa finished 4-22. That was the last time the Mustangs didn’t record double-digit wins in a season. Right now they’re just trying to avoid losing games by double-digits.

ESTANCIA

This season is already a roaring success at Estancia.

The Eagles (8-9), under first-year coach Agustin Heredia, have quadrupled last year’s win total. Heredia doesn’t boast the best players locally, but he’s getting the most out of them.

Estancia opens Orange Coast League play at cross-town rival Costa Mesa (0-16) Friday at 7:30 p.m. A victory and the Eagles will have accomplished something they didn’t last year in league, where they went 0-9, part of a 20-game losing streak to end the season.

In a four-team league with Laguna Beach, Calvary Chapel and Costa Mesa, there isn’t a clear-cut favorite like last year with Laguna Beach claiming the first-year league’s title. Each team lost many key starters, making Estancia the darkhorse this year despite only returning one starter from a year ago in guard Troy McClanahan.

The last time there was as much optimism at Estancia was when Jason Simco coached two years ago. He guided the defending league champion Eagles to a 7-5 record in the Golden West League, finishing behind Costa Mesa and Ocean View, who were both 10-2. Estancia earned a berth into the CIF Southern Section Division III-A playoffs, but it lost and later the program lost Simco to Corona del Mar, where’s he’s an assistant.

Heredia, an Estancia alumnus, said he’s in this for the long run. The 1990 graduate plans to restore the program’s tradition. Estancia is far from competing for section titles, like Heredia did in contributing to the school’s Division 3-AA title in 1989-90 as a point guard.

But with six juniors and three sophomores, Estancia is already battling. The future looks promising, especially after the team moved on from last year’ abysmal 2-24 season.

Things didn’t start on a winning note this year, losing the first two. However, Estancia ended a 22-game losing streak dating back to last season and it has a winning record since then. Now that’s something not many thought would be possible.

NEWPORT HARBOR

The Sailors were one of two local teams getting a taste of league play early when they opened the Sunset League at Esperanza Friday.

From the start, Coach Larry Hirst understood the game would get physical. But his star, 6-9 senior center Kyle Caldwell, was hit often and hard, leaving the game a couple of times bleeding as Newport Harbor lost, 56-46.

Caldwell, a UCLA-bound volleyball player, is considered by Esperanza Coach Jason Pietsch to be the best player in the competitive league. That’s huge praise because always talented Los Alamitos won league last year by going 10-0 en route to claiming the CIF Southern Section Division I-A championship.

Just like last year, Caldwell is leading the way averaging around 22 points and 10 rebounds per game. He’s slimmer, dropping 20 pounds in the offseason to make him more agile at 230 pounds. But the Dream Team pick will need help if the Sailors (10-6, 0-1 in league) plan to challenge favorite Los Alamitos for the league crown instead of finishing in a tie for second place, which they did last year with Edison at 5-5, and advance deeper in the playoffs than the second round.

Last year, Newport Harbor had the twin towers in Caldwell and 6-7 Weston Dunlap, but with Dunlap lost to graduation Hirst has been searching for a replacement.

Possible players assuming the sidekick role are 6-4 senior Max Volz and 6-3 sophomore Cecil Whiteside. Before the Sailors made their league debut, they were at the Don Bambauer Memorial Christmas Classic in Kentfield. Volz, a bench player last year, made his presence felt. He averaged 16 points per game and helped Newport Harbor reach the title game, which it lost to Rocklin, 71-46.

Whiteside is more athletic and stronger than Volz, but young. On a team with 11 seniors, Hirst hopes his Sailors turn it around in league when they play host to Edison (9-8, 1-0) today at 7 p.m.

SAGE HILL

The first year for Sage Hill Coach Jeff Beeler has been streaky. Not always a good thing for a first-year coach.

Sage Hill ended its five-game losing streak with a 50-31 win over Oxford Academy Tuesday. Three of the Lightning’s losses in their five-game skid were close, decided by an average of four points, including a 39-35 league-opening loss at Capistrano Valley Christian Friday.

Early on, the Lightning (5-12, 1-1 in league) have been besieged by injuries. Their top two guards, seniors Jamie McGee and Nick Witte, sat out the start of the season with nagging football injuries, resulting in Sage Hill going 0-3. With McGee and Witte back, Beeler finally saw his team improve and win four of its next six games.

But the senior-led team struggled afterward, not even a trip to Hawaii cured the woes when Sage Hill competed at the Maui Christmas Classic.

McGee, a CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA second-team selection, is the key to the Lightning success. Last year in Coach Steve Keith’s fifth and final year, McGee averaged a league-best 18.5 points per game, Sage Hill placed third in league at 6-4, and the program played host to its first postseason game in school history.

If Sage Hill expects to reach the top of league, where St. Margaret’s always seems to be at the end of every year, and get past the CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA second-round playoffs, McGee will need to continue to be a scorer. Twice this season he’s been held to single digits in scoring, which only happened once last year.

There’s room for off nights with senior forward Preston Oklejas averaging around 11 points per game and senior forward Connor Rose 10 points. But come Jan. 15 and Feb. 6 against rival St. Margaret’s, there won’t be.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.