Mustangs geared to push pace

Rick Devereux

Coach Ryan Schachter thinks he became the Costa Mesa High varsity

boys basketball coach at a great time.

“This is a pretty solid team,” the first-year coach said. “Coach

[Bob] Serven won 17 games last year with mostly underclassmen, so

there has got to be some talent on this team.”

Marko Stankovic and David Gandia were the only two seniors on last

year’s team which finished 17-10 and was defeated, 53-52, by Colony

in the final 1.1 seconds of the opening round of the CIF Southern

Section Division III-A playoffs. The Mustangs have not won a playoff

game since 1962.

“That is one of our goals,” Schachter said. “Mesa hasn’t won a

playoff game in over 40 years and we want to do that this year.”

The Mustangs return seven players from last year’s squad,

including seniors Jeff Waldron, Duaine Wase and Brandon Aleson, as

well as juniors Brian Molina, Scott Knox, Tony Krikorian and William

Lefebvre.

Waldron and Knox were Newport-Mesa Dream Team selections and also

received first-team All-Golden West League recognition last season.

Molina was a second-team all-league honoree, while Krikoran was a

third-team all-league performer in 2003-04.

Schachter said he doesn’t want to change too many things from last

year, but he is abandoning Mesa’s two-three zone for a pressure

man-to-man defense.

“The mentality of what you’re trying to accomplish is totally

different,” Schachter said. “In a zone, you are trying to protect the

basket. In our pressure man, we want to pressure the ball and take

the offense out of its comfort zone. We want to get some easy

transition baskets.”

Schachter said the key to an effective pressure defense is solid

point guard play.

“We are able to run a pressure defense because of [Molina],”

Schachter said. “He can make a point guard afraid to take the ball up

the court.”

Molina, a 5-foot-8 guard, is also a playmaker on offense. His 158

points were third on the team last year. He averaged 5.9 points per

game.

“He is the catalyst on offense,” Schachter said. “He is quick and

can get his shot off even when he’s guarded by bigger guys. He worked

tremendously hard in the off-season. His work ethic is second to

none. He’s our spark.”

If Molina is a spark, the 6-1 Knox is an explosion.

Knox set what is believed to be a school record by converting 91

three-pointers last season. He also set a Newport-Mesa record for

most three-pointers in a game when he made 10 in the regular-season

finale against Santa Ana. He hit eight long balls in the playoff game

against Colony, and connected at least three times from behind the

arc in 16 games last season. He was the only Newport-Mesa player to

make a three-pointer in every game he played.

Knox led the team with 433 points, averaging 15.5 per game. He

averaged 8.6 per contest as a freshman.

Knox is expected to start at the small forward position.

The shooting guard and center spots will be filled by Krikorian

and Waldron, respectively.

The two were standout players for the Mesa football team, as was

Wase and junior guard/forward Ryan French.

“Football players come into basketball in terrible shape,”

Schachter said. “That’s not a Mesa thing. You can ask any coach and

they’ll tell you the same thing. In football, you exert yourself for

six seconds and then rest for 30. But I can tell they can go harder

for longer periods of time at each practice. They are getting

better.”

Schachter said the football players are a little behind the

players that practiced with the team during the off-season.

“They are more behind in terms of offense than with defense,”

Schachter said. “Their shooting rhythm is off. I have them putting up

150 shots a day in practice [in order to regain the shooting

rhythm].”

While Schachter was happy with the return of Molina, Knox, Aleson

and Krikorian, he said Waldron will be an integral part of the team’s

success.

“Jeff is our most versatile and most valuable player,” Schachter

said. “He needs to do a lot for us on offense and defense.”

Waldron, listed at 6-3, might seem a little short for a center,

but that is something Schachter does not have control over. Waldron’s

strength and aggressiveness helped him average 12.1 rebounds as a

junior.

“We can worry about height all day but he’s our second tallest

player [behind the 6-3 Lefebvre],” Schachter said. “If we can

pressure the guard, in theory, the other team will have a difficult

time getting the ball to the wings, which will make it difficult to

get the ball inside to the post.”

Aleson, 6-2, is the projected power forward. He averaged 2.2

points per game last year.

The Mustangs are scheduled to open their season Wednesday at 6:30

p.m. against Pleasant Grove in the Bill Reynolds Classic at Newport

Harbor High.