Peñaloza: CdM’s Battle of the Bay win streak in jeopardy
Out of the 331 high school boys’ basketball games Ryan Schachter has coached during his 12 seasons, he has never lost to one school.
That school is Newport Harbor.
Schachter is 8-0 against Newport Harbor. Seven of those wins have come in the last nine seasons as Corona del Mar’s coach. His first win against the Sailors came during his first coaching job, 11 years ago, when he was in charge of Costa Mesa.
Schachter’s perfect record against the Sailors might be in danger.
When CdM travels to Newport Harbor to play in the Battle of the Bay rivalry game on Tuesday at 7 p.m., Schachter knows the Sailors, not his Sea Kings, are the hottest team in the Back Bay.
“How many have they won in a row?” Schachter asked.
Newport Harbor, ranked No. 14 in the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA poll, has ripped off 12 straight wins. Nine of those victories have come in two tournaments that the Sailors claimed in December.
Charlie Stassel has led the way each time. He earned MVP honors at the Oxford Academy tournament on Dec. 12 and at the Santa Maria tournament on Dec. 30. The Sailors have shown they are more than one player, though.
Newport Harbor (14-2) is off to its best start since 1998-99, when the program went on to finish 24-6, a school record for victories. The Sailors have received contributions from Stassel, Nate Harding, Brandon Phillips, Collin Pipkin, Andrew Laidlaw, Zack Sweis and Zach Blaine.
With this current group, the Sailors are primed to knock off CdM for the first time since the 2005-06 season. Back then, Newport Harbor Coach Bob Torribio was in his first season as an assistant at his alma mater.
“We have to be ready to play because it’s not going to be like in previous years when [the Sailors] were hoping to just play with us,” said Schachter, whose program holds a 44-28 edge in the series against Newport Harbor. “In years past, we’ve had the most talent, but we’re coming in as the underdogs in this game. It’ll be close.”
The Battle of the Bay hasn’t been close since Schachter arrived at CdM. The Sea Kings won last season’s game, 51-33, and since 2006-07, they’ve beaten Newport Harbor by an average of 14 points per game.
The Sea Kings (11-4), ranked No. 2 in Division 3A, head into the showdown coming off a fifth-place showing at the Kentfield Marin Catholic Don Bambauer Memorial Holiday Classic on Wednesday. Sam Kobrine rallied CdM from a 20-point third-quarter deficit, finishing with 30 points and five three-pointers to beat San Anselmo Drake, 84-81, in overtime.
Kobrine is one three standouts at CdM, the others are Matt Ctvrtlik and Taeveon Le. The Sea Kings will also have a new player, Robert Cuevas, a transfer from Mater Dei.
Schachter said Cuevas is eligible to play after sitting out the first 30 days of the season because of section transfer rules. The addition of Cuevas, a senior point guard, allows Kobrine to move from point guard to shooting guard, his more natural position.
“Corona del Mar is very good [and] very well coached,” Torribio said via text. “It is a great … game [to play before we open Sunset League play at Fountain Valley on Friday]. As coaches, we are excited about a very tough game before league.”
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•Coach Xavier Castellano is turning things around in his second season at the helm of the Estancia boys’ basketball team.
First, he brought back the original name of the holiday tournament the Eagles have held since 1985-86. The Estancia Coast Classic has a better ring to it than last season’s Tustin-Estancia Classic.
“Just trying to get it back to 16 teams and trying to run a good tournament,” said Castellano, before Kennedy defeated Santa Fe, 62-52, in Wednesday’s tournament championship. “This year we got a lot of good teams and just hoping to bring back that tradition.”
Castellano also has the Eagles one victory away from tying last season’s win total. Helping their cause was a 2-2 showing at the Coast Classic, leaving the Eagles at 8-7.
The last time the Eagles won two games in their own tournament was in 2010-11.
