CdM opens with easy one
Fans spotted a bird and the worm inside the Corona del Mar High gym on Wednesday.
The bird flew around, while the worm, Dennis Rodman, sat in the bleachers to watch his son D.J. Rodman play for the CdM boys’ basketball team.
Dennis Rodman, whose nickname was the “Worm” during his Hall of Fame NBA career, not only saw the bird fly above his section, but also his son’s team soar past Indio Shadow Hills, 60-39, in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3A playoffs.
D.J. Rodman started for the first time during his freshman season, and just like his dad, the younger Rodman was active defensively. Rodman blocked a shot early on, and the Sea Kings scored eight of the first 10 points.
The Sea Kings (20-8), ranked No. 5 in Division 3A, advanced to the second round to face No. 12 San Gabriel Gabrielino (24-3) on Friday at 7 p.m. A coin flip gave Mission Valley League champion Gabrielino the home game in the next round. Both programs began the postseason with easy wins at home, as Gabrielino topped South Pasadena, 62-50.
The only areas of concern for CdM, which shared second in the Pacific Coast League, is the health of two key starters, Matt Ctvrtlik and Taeveon Le, and free-throw shooting.
Coach Ryan Schachter said Ctvrtlik, whose knee and shin had been bothering him, rolled his ankle against Shadow Hills (10-16), the fourth-place team from the De Anza League. Ctvrtlik, who finished with seven points and five rebounds, left the gym limping.
Le didn’t start because of migraines he has been experiencing due to a wisdom tooth, said Schachter. With Le’s situation, Schachter inserted Rodman into the starting lineup.
“I thought he played well,” Schachter said of Rodman, who had seven points, four rebounds and two blocks. “[He] missed a couple of free throws, and he’s a pretty good free-throw shooter. I’d like him to be a little more aggressive offensively. He passed up a couple of shots that I’d like to see him take. He hit one three. I’d like to see him take more than one [three].”
The only time Rodman attempted a shot from behind the arc came in the third quarter. With three minutes left, Rodman drained the three-pointer to put CdM up, 44-20. The shot gave the Sea Kings their biggest lead, and the older Rodman applauded.
The Sea Kings could’ve blown the game open after taking an 8-2 lead. Missed free throws by CdM kept Shadow Hills in it early. Shadow Hills sent the Sea Kings to the charity stripe seven times in the first quarter, and CdM only converted four of 12 free throws.
“We need to focus more on our free throws,” said CdM’s Sam Kobrine, whose team made five of eight free throws in the final three quarters. “[Free throws are] a really important part of the game, especially down the road. To be a championship team, you got to make your free throws.”
Kobrine would know. He played a vital role in the Sea Kings reaching the section finals a year ago.
The senior guard led the way in the first round, finishing with 26 points on 11-for-20 shooting. He blocked three shots and came up with three steals, leading to fastbreak opportunities.
The transition game is how the Sea Kings distanced themselves from the Knights in the second quarter. They began the quarter on a 14-3 run. Rodman went in for a fastbreak layup, as did Robert Cuevas, and then Kobrine capped off the surge with a two-handed dunk.
“He gave me a nice pass on that one,” said Kobrine, referring to Cuevas, who stole the ball near midcourt, before tossing the ball to a wide-open Kobrine.
The CdM defense turned in a solid performance, forcing 15 turnovers. Earlier this month, the Sea Kings allowed Beckman to score 81 points and University 78 in league action.
For the second time in a row, CdM gave up only 39 points. Schachter credits the improvement to having a familiar face on the bench.
Jason Simco, who has been an assistant under Schachter since the 2006-07 season, returned to the team. Simco has missed most of the season because he’s been supporting his family, his brother Wes Kahkosko has been battling stage four colon cancer since October and his father Phil Simco passed away in a tragic car accident last month.
“That’s the plan [is to have Simco with us in the postseason],” Schachter said. “It’s good having him back, just another voice to talk about what’s going on and just bounce ideas off, and just try to get the boys to compete on the defensive end.”
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CIF Southern Section Division 3A
First round
Corona del Mar 60, Shadow Hills 39
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Shadow 11 – 6 – 9 – 13 — 39
Corona 12 – 18 – 16 – 14— 60
SH – Roby 10, Mathews 10, Tiaga 7, Welmas 4, Greer 3, Stansberry 2, Acuna 2, Scott 1.
3-pt. goals – Mathews 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
CdM – S. Kobrine 26, Rodman 7, Ctvrtlik 7, Borquez 4, Coffman 4, Haly 4, Cuevas 2, Baran-Maguire 2, Hatch 2, Schwartz 1, Le 1.
3-pt. goals – S. Kobrine 3, Ctvrtlik 1, Rodman 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
