CIF SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION III-A CHAMPIONS:CdM’s Kaluzapalooza

ANAHEIM — At the end of games, Corona del Mar High knows it better have won, or see its coach grip something upon which he could vent his frustration.

The Sea Kings finally gave Coach Ryan Schachter something he couldn’t chuck Saturday.

Oh, Schachter was his fiery self, but a CIF Southern Section Division III-A boys’ basketball championship plaque wasn’t going to end up smashed on the court.

No one needed to fret about that happening at the Honda Center.

As the fourth-seeded Sea Kings celebrated a 67-59 victory over second-seeded Renaissance Academy of La Cañada, Schachter walked away from his players to grab the championship plaque.

Schachter hoisted CdM’s fifth section title in school history near halfcourt with a huge smile. His star, 6-foot-9 junior center Stefan Kaluz, looked on and reflected on what it took to become a champion.

Commitment, and a flashlight that Kaluz said exposed how far from being devoted the Sea Kings were on Dec. 27.

Kaluz, who finished with a game-high 23 points to go with seven rebounds, never forgot that flashlight. How could he after the team needed it to see in the gym after 50 mph winds knocked out the power a couple of times during a Santa Barbara tournament?

Then after a disappointing loss, Kaluz remembers an upset Schachter hurling the flashlight at a wall.

It never turned on again, but Kaluz said it turned around the season for CdM (22-7).

“I had to do something. They were in a comfort zone. You can’t play in a comfort zone,” said Schachter, laughing about it now, as his team has won 14 of 17 games since the flashlight incident. “You have to be on edge, you have to be playing on that line of being out of control, but what we call controlled aggression.

“I wanted to treat them like young adults. I wasn’t going to baby them or coddle them. At the time they hated me probably. I can guarantee that they’re all thankful for it now.”

Kaluz is definitely grateful that Schachter, in his first year at CdM, constantly challenged him and the team.

With Schachter as coach, Kaluz said the Sea Kings finally reached their potential. They showed how far they’ve come from last year’s first-round playoff exit by ending any thought of Renaissance (27-2) snapping a two-game losing streak in section title games.

When Kaluz didn’t wear out the Wildcats after making 10 of 14 shots, guards Joe Eberhard and Eddie Lane provided the scoring punch. Eberhard finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Lane added 14 points, taking advantage of a team predominately going the distance with five starters.

“It’s such a great change,” said Kaluz of Schachter taking over at CdM after Ryan Curry resigned after five years. “Our coach is a very intense coach, and I wouldn’t want it any other way, because from the end of last year, I was so frustrated after our [first-round] loss. We were up by 18 and then we just lost it. We just didn’t use [the talent] and we didn’t have the right approach.

“When I got on the team my freshmen year, and if you would’ve told me that we would be winning CIF my junior year, I would’ve not believed you.”

Not every player bought into CdM possibly making the section final for the ninth time in school history. That’s until the flashlight incident in Santa Barbara.

It woke Lane up his senior year, because as he put it, “a piece almost hit me when it exploded.” He knew Schachter wasn’t playing any games.

Schachter reached a boiling point, one that left him questioning whether he made the right decision in leaving Costa Mesa after his first two years being a head coach for CdM’s job.

“Jason [Simco] and I were really like, ‘What did we get ourselves into?’” said Schachter of his assistant coach, who resigned as Estancia’s head coach after two successful years and joined Schachter at CdM. “Almost like thinking, ‘Did we make a bad decision?’

“It’s really not their fault that they were never pushed. They were never expected to give it their all on the floor and just sell out.”

It finally made sense for the Sea Kings to leave everything they had on the court when Lane said Schachter attacked their character.

“He just started calling us soft,” Lane said.

Far from soft is how Lane and his teammates closed out CdM’s first section crown since the 1994-95 season.

When Renaissance, a school of about 50 students, pushed its way back into the game and cut the deficit, 56-53, with a little more than two minutes remaining, Lane fought back.

Not the way he did earlier, when he shoved guard Yader Combs away after they were in each other’s face. He was warned by a referee to cool it, but there was nothing stopping Lane when he attacked Renaissance’s big man, 6-8 sophomore center Anthony Stover.

Lane made the shot and took a blow dropping him on his back. He rose up and put the game away at the 1:21 mark by converting a three-point play at the free-throw line that gave CdM an eight-point lead.

“I didn’t really expect to get this far,” said Lane, a big reason why CdM’s zone defense forced Renaissance guard Justin Cook into bad shots, as he made only seven of 23 shots and one of 11 three-point attempts to finish with a team-high 17 points. “But when coach started making us work hard, doing the extra things normal teams wouldn’t do, I started getting that feeling like, ‘We could really do it. We’re in the position to win this.’”

The season is not over for CdM, as it will play in the state tournament in Division III.

The road to the finals at Arco Arena in Sacramento starts Tuesday and it will be tough. The Sea Kings learn whom they play in the Southern California Regional when the pairings are announced today.

Teams like nationally ranked Artesia (29-2) of Lakewood, which beat Mater Dei, 77-68, for the Southern Section Division I-AA title, will be in the Division III state tournament with CdM, a school with more than 1,500 students, because state is based on enrollment figures and not competitive equity.

“We have the experience necessary to go up against these [high-caliber] teams,” said Lane, referring to schools that will represent the Southern, San Diego, Central and Los Angeles sections in the Southern California Regional. “Instead of us being worried about them, they should be worried about us.”

CdM will mostly likely go into state as an underdog, and Schachter likes the role.

One reporter questioned Schachter’s program going so far, asking the 28-year-old, “Aren’t you guys a volleyball school?”

Schachter chuckled, and answered yes before rattling off that CdM is not only a volleyball school, but also a water polo, golf and cross country school.

“I want people to think we’re a volleyball school and we’re soft. That’s perfect,” said Schachter after leaving the makeshift media room. “And [my players] were soft, and they didn’t like it when I called them soft. They had to know it wasn’t acceptable.

“I told them when I get mad or angry, I have to have things in my hand. I don’t know what was said [in Santa Barbara], but it was a gut-check time. We challenged their manhood at that point.”

The Sea Kings responded, showing Schachter how much they’ve grown in one season and leaving the coach with nothing to fume about or toss after getting his hands on Saturday’s big prize.

CIF Southern Section

Division III-A

Championship

Corona del Mar 67,

Renaissance Academy 59

Score by Quarters

Renaissance 10 17 11 21 — 59

CdM 17 12 18 20 — 67

Renaissance -- Cook 17, Thomas 15, Harold 11, Stover 10, Combs 4, Raya 2.

3-pt. goals -- Thomas 2, Justin.

Fouled out -- Harold, Thomas.

Corona del Mar -- Kaluz 23, Eberhard 18, Lane 14, Joyce 6, Donovan 3, K. Rask 2, Erikson 1.

3-pt. goals -- Eberhard 2.