HIGH SCHOOLS:

For five games this season, the Corona del Mar High boys’ basketball team has been without its version of the quarterback.

Erik Rask, the starting point guard, has missed action due to football recruiting visits. This past weekend was his latest trip, taking him to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, one of four schools courting the senior linebacker, the others being the University of Pennsylvania, UC Davis and Harvard.

Twice this week the Sea Kings were without their floor leader. But with Rask out, it has allowed a new face to emerge.

People better get used to seeing Clayton Ragsdale around. He’s a freshman and performing on a team loaded with performers.

Ragsdale has taken advantage of the starts. He has earned quality minutes even when Rask is with the Sea Kings (16-5, 4-0 in the Pacific Coast League), ranked No. 5 in CIF Southern Section Division III-A.

CdM has only lost once with Rask out of the lineup. During stretches, Ragsdale has shown Coach Ryan Schachter that he can be a vital contributor to the Sea Kings’ ultimate goal of winning back-to-back Division III-A championships.

Ragsdale is averaging 5.9 points, third best on the team, to go with 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

“He’s another great ballhandler,” Schachter said. “Clay’s a lot more wiry and quick. [Erik’s] steady. They compliment each other well.”

Ragsdale gives the Sea Kings a third dimension from the outside. He, along with senior small forward Joe Eberhard and junior guard Sean Donovan, can hit the big three-pointer when defenses collapse on senior center Stefan Kaluz, last year’s Division III-A Player of the Year.

In a slugfest at rival Newport Harbor on Jan. 12, the 5-foot-11 Ragsdale hit back-to-back three-pointers to help CdM beat the Sailors for the second straight year. In the Sea Kings’ blowout wins last week against Villa Park and University, he averaged 11.5 points.

With the 6-foot-1, 210 pound Rask, CdM has someone who can bulldoze his way into the lane to score, grab rebounds, while also doing a solid job distributing the ball and defending. Rask leads the team with 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

“Whenever Erik doesn’t play it’s tough because he’s a leader,” said Eberhard, the team’s second-leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, who handles the ball more when Rask is out. “But Clay has done a good job and he’s only going to get better. He has a big future.”

STREAK SNAPPED, WILL ENDURES

What did Newport Harbor senior wrestler Josh George do after his winning streak ended at 29 matches?

The 140-pounder kept on wrestling.

George competed in another tournament the following day after going 1-2 and getting eliminated on the first day at the prestigious Five Counties Invitational at Fountain Valley High Friday.

George joined his teammates Saturday at the San Clemente Rotary tournament and produced a runner-up finish. The Sailors were able to place ninth as a team with George’s performance, along with third-place showings by Eddie Garcia (125), Edgar Guadarrama (160) and Guillermo Perez (189).

George is now 32-3.

The hard-fought losses at Five Counties — 10-7 to El Diamante’s David Watts, ranked No. 1 in the state at 140-pounds by The California Wrestler Newsletter, and 9-8 to El Dorado’s RJ Pilkington, will only help George when it comes time to advance to state for the first time.

“This was a great experience for him. He competed against state-caliber wrestlers for the first time,” Newport Harbor Coach Dominic Bulone said of George, who was Bulone’s first wrestler to get invited to Five Counties during his nine years as coach. “He never backed down from any of the wrestlers.”

TARS’ RECORD-SETTER

Kyle Caldwell went into the Newport Harbor boys’ basketball record book with his 47-point performance against Marina Friday night.

The 6-foot-9 senior center now holds the school’s single-game scoring mark, which had been 42. Caldwell also chipped in 20 rebounds in the Sailors’ 81-71 Sunset League victory. Not a bad night for a future UCLA volleyball player.

SEASON ENDS EARLY

Corona del Mar lost Scott Lineback, one of its top wrestlers, for the season after Coach Gary Almquist said the senior broke his leg during the Estancia New Year’s Classic.

Lineback was wrestling Costa Mesa’s Cody De La Mater in a 189-pound match when it appeared he injured an ankle on Jan. 5.

Almquist, however, later said Lineback broke his fibula.

“It’s terrible because he was having such a good season,” Almquist said of Lineback. “We will miss him.”

OH, SO CLOSE

This is Coach Jeff Beeler’s first year with the Sage Hill boys’ basketball program.

But there’s one thing he learned quicker than his players’ names: Beat St. Margaret’s.

Sage Hill never had defeated its rival before Beeler arrived. In his debut against St. Margaret’s Tuesday, Beeler almost guided the Lightning past the Tartans until missed free throws killed their hopes.

St. Margaret’s went on to win, 59-53, as Sage Hill went six for 18 from the free-throw line.

“We’re shooting at home. We should shoot better than that,” Beeler said of his team’s 33.3% foul shooting.

“I’ve got guys that have been here their four years and have never beat [St. Margaret’s]. Their older brothers never beat St. Margaret’s. I thought this year they had a good chance.”

The Lightning get another chance at the Tartans, Feb. 6.

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