Boys basketball: Sorce of familiarity

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - The Estancia High boys basketball team has one

returning player from last year’s 14-13 CIF playoff entry. But, without

first-year coach Chris Sorce, the Eagles may have kissed all continuity

goodbye.

Sorce, who won five Pacific Coast League titles in five seasons as the

Eagles sophomore coach, stepped in to fill a void left by the departure

of four-year head man Rich Boyce to Edison.

Boyce’s resignation, after 13 seasons in the program, triggered a

difficult period for the Eagles, who saw one coach hired, then quit days

later. After some additional indecision, Sorce finally came forward to

accept the challenge of coaching a group of kids he had already built

strong relationships with.

“If I didn’t know these kids, I don’t think I’d have taken the job,”

said Sorce, who plans to maintain the basic system that Boyce ran. “I

really lucked out. We may not be CIF or league champions, but we’re going

to have a lot of fun together. And they’re going to give a hard effort

every day. I know these guys will give me the best that they have.”

The best they have may also be good enough to continue the schools’

Newport-Mesa District-best streak of 13 straight postseason appearances.

All teams which record at least 11 wins will make the playoffs.

Senior Eliasar Maldonado, the aforementioned returner, enters his

third varsity season as a co-captain and an expected starter. He averaged

4.2 points in a reserve role last season.

Senior Cesar Romero, another co-captain, and surprisingly savvy

sophomore Matt Cachola, have also been penciled into the lineup.

Sorce said several others will battle for the remaining two starting

spots and minutes could be divided between as many as nine or 10 players.

“We have a lot of interchangeable parts,” Sorce said. “Our practices

should be pretty competitive.”

Sorce also believes a roster including seven football players will

enhance intensity, as well as help overcome a dearth of height.

Joining the 6-foot, 245-pound Romero in making the transition from

football, are 6-4 Kenny and 6-3 Danny Valbuena, David Stoddard, Freddy

Rodriguez, Fahad Jahid and Richie Berame.

Junior Micah Young steps up to the varsity after capturing junior

varsity MVP honors last season, while seniors Don Phan and Jeff Niles, as

well as junior George Prado, fortify the 13-player roster.

Romero can bang inside and hang with the guards, according to Sorce,

while Cachola, a 5-10 point guard, is a coach on the floor.

Maldonado is a slasher with open-court flair, while Rodriguez was

known last year as “the Michael Jordan of sophomore basketball,”

according to Sorce.

“He absolutely dominated on the sophomore level,” Sorce said of the

6-foot-1 Rodriguez, who he estimated averaged 18 points and 15 rebounds

last year. “He had a couple games with 29 and 30 rebounds and he had 20

in one half of one game.”

Young, at 6-2, can explode to the basket, and also pull up to hit the

mid-range jumper, Sorce said.

The Valbuena twins provide height, but aren’t necessarily post

players, according to their coach.

“We don’t really have a center,” Sorce said. “We’re not real tall, but

we could be a good rebounding team and I think we’ll be pretty solid

defensively.”

The challenge appears to be finding some cohesion on the offensive

end, though Sorce believes he has players who can put the ball in the

basket.

Cachola, Maldonado and Prado are threats from three-point range, but

the Eagles don’t have the kind of long-range weaponry brought by

now-departed Jon Cantrell and Jason Simco.

Niles (6-3), Jahid (6-2) and Stoddard (6-0) can contribute in the

paint, where undersized Darshaun Garner averaged a double-double last

season, en route to joining Cantrell and Simco on the Newport-Mesa

District Dream Team.

Sorce, assisted by Estancia alum and longtime lower-level coach Russ

King, as well as Greg Wood, said he will install some wrinkles to keep

opponents guessing.

The Eagles open Dec. 4 in the Fullerton Tournament against the host

Indians. It’s a welcome opportunity for the football players, who saw

their season come to an end with a first-round playoff loss to Fullerton

last week.

Estancia High boys basketball

4 Eliasar Maldonado 6-0 Sr.

5 Freddy Rodriguez 6-1 Jr.

10 Don Phan 5-11 Sr.

11 Matt Cachola 5-10 So.

12 Richie Berame 5-6 Sr.

20 Jeff Niles 6-3 Sr.

21 David Stoddard 6-0 Sr.

31 Micah Young 6-2 Jr.

31 Fahad Jahid 6-2 Sr.

33 George Prado 5-9 Jr.

40 Danny Valbuena 6-3 Sr.

44 Kenny Valbuena 6-4 Sr.

50 Cesar Romero 6-0 Sr.

Coach: Chris Sorce