Boys Basketball: CdM working hard for title game

Inside the Corona del Mar High boys’ basketball team room, Coach Ryan Schachter is trying to find a place for the Sea Kings to eat and stay during their next road trip. It’s almost 5 p.m. on Wednesday, and around this time, he’s usually instructing his players during practice.

No players are around, so Schachter has time to make arrangements. He’s hopeful the next call he answers is helpful.

“I need to find out what I can do with my boys out in Azusa for a couple of hours,” Schachter said to someone on the other line. “Is there like a family restaurant … because we play at 9 o’clock at night.”

The Sea Kings are holding practice a little later than usual this week. Practicing at 7 p.m., instead of 2 1/2 hours earlier, is by design.

The Sea Kings are preparing for their latest game of the season, and it’s the biggest of the season. The start time for CdM’s CIF Southern Section Division 3A final is at 9 p.m. on Friday at Azusa Pacific University. The late start surprised the Sea Kings’ players and coaches when the section on Monday released the schedule to accommodate fans and parents looking to attend Friday’s three championship games inside the Felix Event Center.

“It’s the championship game,” CdM point guard Bo St. Geme said, “so we’re all going to be up for it.”

By the time the No. 2-seeded Sea Kings (24-6) tip off against No. 1 Beverly Hills (24-5), both schools will have had a week to get ready for each other. The schedule is one St. Geme is used to from his football days with the Sea Kings, which played once a week. Not having to play twice this week is something St. Geme appreciates.

The team hasn’t only rested. The first couple of days this week Schachter ran CdM a lot more than it has in a long time. He believes it’s important to keep his team conditioned because CdM is facing a formidable opponent in Beverly Hills.

Chance Comanche, a 6-foot-11 senior, leads the Normans. Comanche, who’s bound for Arizona, is part of what many consider the best recruiting class in the country. Slowing down Comanche is CdM’s top priority, and the Sea Kings have the size with 6-7 Ryan Moss and 6-5 Matt Ctvrtlik to create problems for Comanche.

The Normans have played a robust nonleague schedule like CdM this season. The only teams to beat Beverly Hills are Los Angeles Westchester, which is in the CIF Los Angeles City Section Open Division final, Woodland Hills El Camino Real, a CIF Los Angeles City Section Open Division semifinalist, Bellflower St. John Bosco, which made the CIF Southern Section Open Division, Compton, which is in the CIF Southern Section Division 2A final, and Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, which qualified for the CIF Southern Section Open Division.

The Sea Kings’ setbacks have come against Mater Dei, a CIF Southern Section Open Division semifinalist, Los Alamitos, a CIF Southern Section Division 1AA semifinalist, Los Angeles Price, which made the CIF Southern Section Open Division, San Anselmo Drake, a CIF North Coast Section Division 3 semifinalist, Santa Barbara San Marcos, a CIF Southern Section Division 3AA quarterfinalist, and Edison, which reached the CIF Southern Section Division 1A final.

Since losing at Edison, 54-43, on Jan. 7, CdM has reeled off 15 consecutive wins. Beverly Hills has won just as many in a row. One team’s winning streak will end. It has been 46 years since the Normans last claimed a section title, while CdM last won one eight years ago.

The section crown came in Schachter’s inaugural season with the Sea Kings in 2006-07. They have made it back to the final, and this team is Schachter’s deepest and most competitive. He plays eight, starting St. Geme and Sam Kobrine in the backcourt, with Ryan Stone at small forward, Kevin Fults at forward and Moss at center. The team’s best player might be Ctvrtlik, who comes off the bench.

Ctvrtlik, who is averaging 14.5 points per game in the postseason, is CdM’s best three-point and free-throw shooter. Two other bench players CdM counts on for crucial minutes are Austin Ridge and Taeveon Le.

While the Sea Kings haven’t won by double digits in the past three rounds, topping No. 3 Hemet Tahquitz, 57-50, at home in the semifinals, winning at No. 7 La Cañada, 52-44, in the quarterfinals, and prevailing at No. 15 Ocean View, 65-58, in the second round, CdM has shown it can grind out wins.

The Sea Kings are coming off a 10-for-23 three-point shooting performance against Tahquitz, but more impressive than that was their defense. Through three quarters, the Sea Kings held the Titans to 24 points and nine-for-28 shooting. Everyone who steps on the court for CdM can play defense.

The Normans aren’t a high-scoring team, averaging 60.9 points per game, 2.3 more than CdM. Schachter said the Normans’ best shooters are Trevor Bergher and Ryan Manoocheri. Beverly Hills edged No. 4 Esperanza at home, 54-49, in the semifinals. The point total was the Normans’ lowest since beating a team from Germany, 49-38, in the Gear to the Max Division final at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic on Dec. 30 in Palm Springs.

“The fact that they played Esperanza close, you know, I think makes us feel confident,” said Schachter, referring to CdM winning its sixth section title in the program’s history. “Even the [Glendale] Hoover game [Beverly Hills won, 72-57, in the second round], I think it was a three-point game going into the fourth quarter. They’re definitely beatable. It’s a winnable game.

“We’re going to mix it up [defensively] on [Comanche]. He can shoot from 15 feet. He’s not a very physical like low-post player.”