Boys’ Basketball: Second Stone, second CdM CIF semifinals appearance
Ryan Stone is the second member of his family to play basketball for Coach Ryan Schachter at Corona del Mar High. Schachter is the first to let you know that Ryan is the complete opposite of his older brother, Max, in every way you can imagine on the court.
Max was purely a shooter, and Ryan is the guy who now stops guys like Max. When someone scores on Ryan, he takes it personal.
Max scored a lot on Ryan when they were in high school together two years ago. Max was bigger, more experienced and two years older than Ryan back then. Whenever the two played one-on-one, Max always got the better of Ryan. Those heated games against Max helped Ryan become a defensive stopper.
“Just to be physical with kids, make them uncomfortable, make them do things they don’t want to do,” Ryan said he learned from defending his brother. “Just … bumping them when they don’t want to be bumped, forcing them to their off hand, and making them shoot shots that they don’t want to.”
While the Stone brothers held different roles on the Sea Kings, Ryan and Max have one thing in common besides playing at the same size, 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds. In their respective senior years, they led the Sea Kings to the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
Max was able to play his semifinal in front of the home fans two seasons ago, and Ryan will as well on Friday. The No. 2-seeded Sea Kings (23-6) play host to No. 3 Hemet Tahquitz (25-4) at 7 p.m.
Max won’t be in the stands rooting his younger brother on because he’s a sophomore at the University of Miami. But if the Sea Kings can get through Tahquitz, Max might fly out for the Division 3A finals to watch Ryan. The finals aren’t until next week, on either March 6 or 7, so Max has time to book a flight.
“He’s just telling me we got to get past it,” said Ryan, referring to the semifinals, the round in which he saw Max’s career end in a 61-53 loss to La Verne Damien. “I just remember how emotional everyone was at the end of the game and how sad it was. I remember everyone left everything on the court, but they just couldn’t get over the hump. It was just a tough game.”
Ryan was a sophomore when Max was a senior. Schachter called Ryan up to varsity to join his brother for the postseason, and he just sat on the bench.
This is Ryan’s second and final postseason as a starter. He knows this could very well be the last time he suits up for the Sea Kings. The thought of that is what pushed Ryan last week against Ocean View, not wanting CdM’s season to abruptly end in the second round for the second time in as many seasons.
Ryan and the Sea Kings were involved in a tight one at Ocean View, taking a two-point lead into the fourth quarter. Two minutes in, CdM lost the lead, and then regained it a minute later, only to lose it again 18 seconds later.
“Scoring is not my role usually,” Ryan said, “but I knew that we were struggling a little bit [on offense] and I just tried to get to the basket.”
Ryan turned into his brother, a scorer. Max was the focal point of CdM’s offense during the 2012-13 season, averaging 16.4 points and 2.9 three-pointers per game. The three-point play must run in the Stone family because Ryan produced one with 4 1/2 minutes to go.
Schachter likes to call Ryan a cerebral player, and Ryan backed up his coach’s assertion. Knowing Ocean View’s Zarek Osborne was in foul trouble, Ryan attacked the paint and he got the aggressive Osborne to pick up his fourth foul while converting a layup. Ryan made the free throw, putting CdM up, 52-50.
With Bo St. Geme in foul trouble, Ryan defended Ocean View point guard Zamir Kelly. Whomever Ryan guards, the player tends to finish below his season average.
Ryan prevented the quick and athletic Kelly from reaching his almost 17-point-per-game average. Kelly recorded 14 points, and his only successful shot in the fourth quarter came with 3 1/2 minutes left. Kelly tied the game at 54-54, but a minute later, Ryan gave CdM the lead for the second time in the quarter.
St. Geme penetrated the paint and then passed the ball to the left to a wide-open Ryan, who stood behind the three-point line. Ryan knocked down the shot. As big as Ryan’s second three-point play in the fourth quarter was for CdM, the two points Ryan kept Kelly from delivering proved to be just as huge.
With less than two minutes left, Kelly drove toward the left, but Matt Ctvrtlik forced him to the baseline, giving Ryan time to recover. When Kelly picked up his dribble in the paint and went up, Ryan blocked his shot at the 1:43 mark. The Sea Kings stayed ahead by three, and 18 seconds later, Ryan pushed the advantage to 59-54 by making two free throws.
Ryan played a perfect fourth quarter, going two-for-two shooting and three for three from the free-throw line to finish with 13 points. Eight of those points came in the fourth and CdM prevailed, 65-58. The performance in the final eight minutes on both ends of the court showed that Ryan would do whatever it takes to help his team.
“Bottom line,” Schachter said, “he’s just trying to win a game.”
The first Stone to play for Schachter fell short of lifting CdM to its first section finals appearance since the 2006-07 season. The Sea Kings haven’t been back since Schachter’s debut season, when CdM won it all.
The Sea Kings are one win away from reaching the section finals for the 10th time in the program’s history. The latest Stone hopes the CdM crowd can play a role against Tahquitz. After overcoming their second straight road game by winning at La Cañada, 52-44, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, the Sea Kings are looking forward to playing at home again.
“My brother brought it up [that in] his [semifinal game against] Damien the gym was packed,” Ryan said. “I just hope we can get some fans out and make it just like that.”
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Ryan Stone
Born: Oct. 21, 1997
Hometown: Hollywood, Fla.
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 175 pounds
Sport: Basketball
Year: Senior
Coach: Ryan Schachter
Favorite food: Steak
Favorite movie: “The Blind Side”
Favorite athletic moment: Winning at La Cañada, 52-44, in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 3A playoffs.
Week in review: Stone averaged nine points and two steals per game, helping the Sea Kings to two wins in the CIF Southern Section Division 3A playoffs.