Daily Pilot High School Athlete of the Week

There was a time when it would take much less than an elbow, or a hip to the stomach to knock Kassie Stratton off her game.

Not so long ago, a couple errant three-pointers, or maybe a silly turnover, would be enough for the Estancia High junior to drop her chin, figuratively tuck her tail, and simply mope through the motions.

But as recent Estancia opponents have found, those days are over.

Just two weeks ago, Stratton showed up to practice a different player, Estancia Co-Coach Xavier Castellano said.

“It was after we lost [74-32 on Dec. 7 at a tournament in Fountain Valley] that she changed right then and there,” Castellano said. “She is a funny kid who likes to laugh and have fun. But she came to practice the next day and she was all business.”

And business has been good.

Stratton scored a career-high 48 points in a nonleague win at Bolsa Grande on Dec. 16. She scored 20 points in a nonleague loss to Buena Park two days before that, and dropped 28 points on Orange in a 47-39 nonleague home win on Thursday.

For her efforts, Stratton is the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week.

Those efforts include more than defense, said Castellano, who with point guard Erika Soto likely out for the season with a torn right meniscus, credits Stratton for supplying valuable leadership, as well as other elements to her game that have helped the Eagles (5-6) hover around .500.

“She’s been scoring a lot, but defensively is where she helps us the most,” said Castellano, who along with Co-Coach Judd Fryslie shifted the 5-foot-10 Stratton from the front of the Eagles’ full-court press to Soto’s former spot as rover in the back of the press.

“She’s willing to go get rebounds, dive on the floor for a loose ball, and she plays hurt,” Castellano said. “She kind of gets killed out there. In the last couple games, she has been elbowed in the face and hit in the stomach. If that happened last year, it would have affected her. This year, it makes her play harder.”

Castellano said during her 48-point game, watching Stratton was as much a study in determination as an exhibition of basketball skill.

“You just knew she wasn’t going to be stopped,” Castellano said. “She was calling for the ball and her teammates were looking for her, because they knew she was going to put us on her back. Her teammates knew how hard she was playing and how badly she wanted it.”

Stratton, who shifted her focus from gymnastics to basketball at age 8, has always wanted success on the court. After making an NJB All-Star team her first year, she quickly joined a club program and began playing against much-older players.

She made the Estancia varsity as a freshman.

But her desire to excel and diversify her game intensified this past off-season.

“She had no post presence last year,” Castellano said. “Her scoring was all from the outside. If she made her first three-pointer, she was going to have a good game. If she missed her first three ...”

Stratton said her coaches helped her improve.

“Coach Fryslie and our old coach [Tommy Rausch] came in and worked with me during the summer,” Stratton said. “They helped me step up my game to be more than just an outside shooter. They helped me learn how to score inside and get layups I didn’t get before.”

Stratton said Fryslie also helped her improve her mental approach.

“I’m learning how to be strong and be more of a leader for our team.” She said. “I have to be stoic and not let [the opponents] know whether I am either [mad or frustrated], or super excited.”

Stratton said it was hard not to show how much she enjoyed her 48-point performance against Bolsa.

“Everything was dropping,” she said. “Shots I would never imagine going in the basket just dropped. My shot was perfect that night and all my focus was on the basket. It was like everything I was throwing up would go in.”

Even still, Stratton said she had no clue she was one bucket away from 50.

“I had no idea I was anywhere near 48,” she said. “But then our scorekeeper told me and my teammates started nudging me and shoving me and saying ‘forty-eight, forty-eight.’ ”

Stratton said she loves and admires her teammates and Castellano said those feelings are mutual.

“She has a better attitude and is really maturing,” Castellano said. “She is being what our program needs.”