Athlete of the Week: Ctvrtlik leads CdM
Matt Ctvrtlik is the best, smartest and quietest player on the Corona del Mar High boys’ basketball team.
“I don’t say much,” said Ctvrtlik, a straight-A student, “unless I have to.”
There’s a reason why Coach Ryan Schachter calls Ctvrtlik a silent assassin on the court. He let’s his game on the court speak for him, and usually that’s enough for the 6-foot-5 senior.
“He’s so competitive, so focused and so intense,” Schachter said, “but if he has a weakness, it’s that vocal component to his game.”
Ctvrtlik is not the kind of player who is going to call out a teammate or the team when the player or team isn’t competing at the level it should be every game. He leaves that up to Schachter.
Schachter on the other hand isn’t afraid to rip into the Sea Kings. Ctvrtlik said Schachter let the team hear it after CdM lost to Capistrano Valley Christian, 63-55, at the Orange County North/South Challenge at El Toro High on Tuesday.
The Sea Kings, ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Division 3A poll, played Capistrano Valley Christian, No. 3 in Division 5A, for the second time in five days. The first contest took place in the semifinals of the Charlie Wilkins Memorial Tournament at Westminster High, where CdM won, 53-48.
Playing a program like Capistrano Valley Christian twice in a short span like that isn’t ideal. The Eagles knew CdM went on to claim the previous tournament because of Ctvrtlik’s play. The forward finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the Sea Kings’ 57-44 win against Laguna Beach in the tournament finale last week.
Nevertheless, Ctvrtlik, who averaged 14.7 points and 3.2 three-pointers per game and led CdM to its first tournament title in six years, said Tuesday’s setback should be a learning experience for the younger players.
“They came out ready and we just weren’t ready,” Ctvrtlik said of the Eagles. “They brought it and we underestimated them a little bit, but they punched us in the mouth.”
Schachter is looking forward to seeing how the Sea Kings respond. They had an early wake-up call scheduled for Saturday.
Schachter said CdM planned to fly out of John Wayne Airport at 6:40 a.m. to compete in a tournament in the San Francisco Bay Area, a far more competitive one than the 10-team Charlie Wilkins Memorial Tournament. The Sea Kings are in the Don Bambauer Memorial Holiday Classic at Kentfield Marin Catholic, where a possible second-round matchup between CdM and Chino Hills Ayala, the top-ranked team in Division 2AA, could take place on Monday.
A year ago at the same tournament, the Sea Kings faced some tough teams en route to making the championship game. Ctvrtlik and Sam Kobrine played key roles to CdM’s runner-up finish back then.
What has changed since then is Ctvrtlik’s role on the team. He’s no longer the sixth man. This season he’s in the CdM starting lineup, joining Kobrine, his good friend.
Ctvrtlik and Kobrine are the only returners who played a lot last season as juniors. The two are also a lot alike. Both are heading to play college volleyball, Ctvrtlik at Harvard and Kobrine at UCLA.
Schachter said both are also unassuming teenagers.
“It does make it more difficult when our two best players who are seniors aren’t very vocal,” Schachter said. “But it’s not fair to say that they have to change. You have to be who you are. I don’t want them to be something they’re not.”
Schachter knows who Ctvrtlik is. He knows he boasts one of the top two-sport athletes in Orange County on his team.
Ctvrtlik can do a lot, shoot from the outside, score inside, make free throws, pass, rebound, and block shots. Ctvrtlik is a difference maker. He proved it last season, coming off the bench to lead the Sea Kings to an undefeated Pacific Coast League title, their first section finals appearance since the 2006-07 season, and the CIF State Southern California Regional Division III quarterfinals.
“We’ve had very few kids during my 10 seasons at CdM that compete at such a high level like he does,” Schachter said of Ctvrtlik, who earned All-CIF Southern Section Division 3A honors and the Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Dream Team Player of the Year award last season. “We need guys on the team to follow the way he plays. I know if I were on his team, I wouldn’t want to let him down.”
—
Matt Ctvrtlik
Born: Nov. 9, 1997
Hometown: Newport Beach
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 190 pounds
Sport: Basketball
Year: Senior
Coach: Ryan Schachter
Favorite food: Chicken Alfredo
Favorite movie: “Gladiator”
Favorite athletic moment: Playing for a CIF Southern Section championship in volleyball and basketball in the same school year.
Week in review: Ctvrtlik finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the Sea Kings’ 57-44 win against Laguna Beach in the finals of the Charlie Wilkins Memorial Tournament at Westminster High.
