Daily Pilot High School Male Athlete of the Week: Whitney goes to Pacifica Christian to launch program
There was a time in Cal Whitney’s life that he planned to attend the same high school as his older brother, Landon. The two are only two years apart and they are close.
A year ago, Cal and Landon went to school on the same Corona del Mar campus, Cal at the middle school and Landon at the high school. Landon would drive Cal to school.
These days, Cal Whitney rides with one of his parents, Neil or Kim.
Whitney decided to go to a smaller private school in town. The school has been around Newport Beach one more year than Whitney has been in high school.
Pacifica Christian is where Whitney is a freshman. He is one of 95 students on campus, one of about 50 boys. If he had gone to CdM, that’s almost as many players tried out for the varsity boys’ basketball team.
If Whitney had gone to CdM, he might have already seen one team his current school will face on Saturday. For Whitney, playing Riverside Carnegie during this time of the season is a lot better than doing so in mid-January.
Whitney admits he probably wouldn’t have made the varsity team at CdM. But at Pacifica Christian, which is in its first varsity season, Whitney is close to being a part of a historic finish.
Whitney is one of four starting freshmen who have played vital roles to Pacifica Christian reaching the CIF Southern Section Division 6 finals. Pacifica Christian can become the first boys’ basketball team from Orange County to win a section crown in its inaugural varsity season.
They literally have a tall order in front of them on Saturday, when the No. 2-seeded Tritons (23-3) go up against No. 1 Carnegie (17-6) at Godinez High at 4 p.m. Carnegie features 7-foot center Luka Filipovic, 6-7 forward Nikola Ilic, 6-5 guard Kostas Altinis, 6-3 guard Julio Arocha and 6-2 point guard Kresimir Jerkov in its starting lineup.
If you haven’t heard of their names, it makes sense. Pacifica Christian Coach Jeff Berokoff said most of Carnegie’s roster is comprised of international players.
“Biggest team most teams will have to face,” Berokoff said of the Wolverines. “They gave Corona del Mar a lot of problems with their size and their strength [in a nonleague game on Jan. 16], and Corona del Mar is an awfully good team that [five weeks later] went to the quarters of Division [1A].”
Whitney knows how talented CdM was this season. He followed the Sea Kings, and he knows many of the players on the team.
Whitney said some of his former classmates still don’t know where Pacifica Christian is located, whether the Tritons are in a league, or what division they are a part of this season. The Tritons, a freelance program, are in the lowest of the 12 divisions in the section.
In many ways, it would have been easy for Whitney to go to an established program like CdM. The Sea Kings have reached the section finals twice since 2006-07, and in their history, they have advanced 10 times, winning the title five times.
His brother was also entering his junior year at CdM this past fall. Whitney said Landon was a little disappointed that he didn’t join him in high school. He said Landon understood why.
“I don’t think it was that tough to make a decision,” said Whitney, who preferred the class sizes at Pacifica Christian, his smallest has seven students and his biggest has 20 students. “I knew I wanted to find a legacy. I wanted to start a new basketball program.”
The newest school in the area is also the only one making it this far.
Whitney led the way to the Tritons’ section finals appearance. With freshman point guard Dominick Harris, the team’s leading scorer, tweaking his already injured right ankle 27 seconds into the semifinals with No. 3 Ventura Foothill Tech last Friday, Whitney took it upon himself to take charge.
Whitney isn’t one to shy away from taking shots. Berokoff gives the 5-foot-11 shooting guard the green light to shoot.
Fourteen shots are how many Whitney averages per game, and he hits almost half of them. He was his usual and accurate self in the semifinals, and the Tritons needed him at home.
Whitney made seven of 15 shots, finishing with a game-high 23 points in Pacifica Christian’s 64-59 win. He finished with three three-pointers and three steals, and he converted two free throws with 22 seconds left, sealing the Tritons’ section championship berth.
The next day, Whitney went to go watch his brother. Landon is a junior on the CdM boys’ lacrosse team, which worked out at Westlake Village Oaks Christian.
“I can see how he’s growing in the sport and how he’s becoming a better player, and it’s very fun to watch,” said Whitney, adding that Landon has drawn interest from some colleges to play lacrosse on the next level.
Whitney, who is 15, also hopes to play basketball in college.
Don’t let his boyish looks fool you. Whitney is averaging 18.1 points per game, making him the No. 6 leading scoring freshman in the state.
“He’s a great kid, he’s got a great smile and a big heart, and I love coaching him,” Berokoff said of Whitney, who also looked into going to Mater Dei, Orange Lutheran and Crean Lutheran, but he and his family chose Pacifica Christian, which is closer to home. “He’s got tremendous upside, and I think he’s going to have a big-time future in basketball.”
Cal Whitney
Born: June 3, 2001
Hometown: Newport Beach
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 145 pounds
Sport: Basketball
Year: Freshman
Coach: Jeff Berokoff
Favorite food: Chicken Alfredo
Favorite movie: “Napoleon Dynamite”
Favorite athletic moment: “When I was 13, I scored 46 points in an [AAU] game.”
Week in review: Whitney finished with 23 points, three three-pointers and three steals in host Pacifica Christian’s 64-59 win against Ventura Foothill Tech in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoffs.
Twitter: @ByDCP
