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Published Saturday,
February 16, 2008 2:07 AM PST
Sports
CdM struts to victory
BASKETBALL: Sea
Kings advance to take on West Valley in the CIF Division III-A quarterfinals
after handily defeating Sultana.
By Soraya Nadia McDonald
CORONA DEL MAR � Almost everything was the same, with a
few minor exceptions, and one major one.
The second-round opponent this year was Sultana High, not Palm Springs, and
Corona del Mar trounced the Sultans, 62-41, in the second round of the CIF
Southern Section Division III-A playoffs.
The one big difference for the Sea Kings: Friday night,
Erik Rask was making stats, not taking them.
Sidelined with a tear in his right anterior cruciate ligament that
effectively ended his junior football and basketball seasons, Rask was a mere
spectator to the Sea Kings� 2007 CIF championship glory. He had to settle for
recording the details in the scorebook.
Not this time.
Free from the worries of recruiting trips or committing to a school, and his
right knee recovered, the future University of Pennsylvania linebacker had
five points and four rebounds in the Sea Kings� first game since Feb. 5.
�[Sitting out] was hard on me,� Rask said. �But I�m really excited this year
� to just get a chance, I�m really, really happy about it.�
�It�s great,� said Corona del Mar Coach Ryan Schachter. �He�s a senior
leader, he�s strong with the ball. It�s just good to have a guy like that on
the court.�
For the second straight year, CdM enjoyed a first-round bye and home-court
advantage in the second round of the playoffs, with a crop of 12 seniors who
remember last season�s adrenaline-filled journey to the top.
The Sea Kings took a breezy 15-9 first-quarter lead before picking things up
in the second. At one point, the Sea Kings had four straight offensive
rebounds before Sean Donovan ended it with a three-pointer from the top.
�I think not playing in about two weeks affects us a little bit early on,�
Schachter said. �Second half, we picked it up, but we still missed some easy
ones. At least we�re getting easy shots, so that�s good.�
Brown-bound senior Stefan Kaluz led with 20 points and 20 rebounds, and the
Sea Kings enjoyed the return of senior guard Joe Eberhard, who was sidelined
for three weeks with respiratory problems and flu-like symptoms. Eberhard
added 15 points.
The Sea Kings, the No. 4 seed in the division, never trailed against the
under-matched Sultans, whose tallest player was 6-2. They led by 13 at the
half, and took their biggest lead in the fourth quarter, when Sultana
trailed, 53-30.
Their stickiest challenge was suppressing senior guard Joseph Johnson, who
had 14 points and four rebounds.
Johnson had 17 second-half points Wednesday against La Quinta after being
silenced for the first 16 minutes of the game.
The Sultans had marginal success when they got the ball inside to big man
Eddie Rojas, who had nine points. But Rojas had several ungainly fumbles that
also led to turnovers.
The Sea Kings will face fifth-seeded West Valley � a team that has a swing
man big enough to challenge Kaluz, in the division quarterfinals � Tuesday,
at a site to be determined by coin flip. Junior Joseph Burton is a 6-8 post
player who averages 21.3 points per game. The Sea Kings defeated West Valley
in the division semifinals last season, 67-61. The Mustangs advanced after
beating Rowland Friday, 90-42.
�West Valley�s really good,� Schachter said. �We�re going to have to play
really well to beat them ... They�re big, athletic. They�ve got the whole
package.�
CIF Southern Section Division III-A
Second round
Corona del Mar 62, Sultana 41
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Sul � Johnson
14, Rojas 9, Manson 7, Thomas 4, Rahman 4, Simmons 3.
3-pt. goals � Johnson 2, Manson 1, Simmons 1.
Fouled out � Manson.
Technicals � None.
CdM � Kaluz
20, Eberhard 15, Donovan 7, E. Rask 6, Ragsdale 5, Brakeville 4, Jones 2, K.
McDonald 2, Meshkin 1.
3-pt. goals � Eberhard 2, Donovan 1, Ragsdale 1.
Fouled out � None.
Technicals � None.
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