Eagles go cold in loss

Barry Faulkner

When Carlos Pinto graduated from Estancia High last month, the

All-CIF Southern Section boys basketball player took with him 1,538

points in four varsity seasons. More than one-third of those he

accumulated while averaging 20.4 points in 28 games during last

year’s run to the CIF Division III-A semifinals, when the Eagles won

the Golden West League and finished 23-6.

Among those curious as to how that scoring gap will be filled is

second-year Eagles Coach Jason Simco. But neither Simco nor anyone

else in the handful of Estancia rooters present at Katella High

Friday got much in the way of an answer.

Estancia shot a frigid 22.6% from the field (12 of 53) in a 33-27

loss to Elsinore in the first round of the George Yardley Summer Cage

Classic to drop into the consolation bracket.

Other than senior-to-be Mike McDaniels, who scored Estancia’s

first eight points and finished with 10, the Eagles received just

three points -- combined -- from their other four starters.

Not including McDaniels, the other four starters were a combined 1

for 24 on field-goal attempts and the five Eagle starters shot a

combined 16.2% from the field (6 of 37).

And while Elsinore managed to connect on only 14 of its 51

field-goal tries (27.5%), the Tigers’ starters hit 12 of 39 for

30.8%.

“Scoring has been a little bit of a problem for us,” said Simco,

whose team has begun the summer 8-3.

Defense was also a problem for the Eagles early Friday, as

Elsinore built its 22-16 halftime lead on eight layups and a pair of

three-pointers.

Estancia slowed Elsinore by opening the second half in a zone and

the Eagles later defended effectively in their more traditional

man-to-man scheme.

But a spirited comeback attempt, in which they trimmed the deficit

to 22-18, then 28-22 and finally the game-ending six-point margin,

was plagued by the Eagles’ consistently shabby shooting.

Cordell Dickson, the MVP on last year’s junior varsity team as a

junior, chipped in six points off the bench. Fellow reserve Troy

McClanahan, who will be a freshman in the fall, added five for the

Eagles.

Senior-to-be Dallas Kopp had six rebounds and three points in his

first action of the summer after recovering from surgery on a broken

finger sustained during the volleyball season last spring.

Kopp’s six rebounds were second to McDaniels and Scott Markley,

both of whom had eight, and Simco was very encouraged to have the

6-foot-5 Kopp back in the mix.

“He really added a presence for us in the middle,” Simco said.

Taylor McClanahan and Scott Markley had five rebounds apiece to

help fill out a statistical category in which the Eagles more than

held their own.

Estancia plays today at 10 a.m. at Newport Harbor against either

Villa Park or Laguna Beach.