Can’t-miss basketball at Pacifica Christian
Pacifica Christian High’s campus is so small that if you drive down West 15th Street in Newport Beach, you might miss it.
While the private school is hard to find, it does have a can’t-miss basketball player in Dominick Harris.
Harris, a 6-foot-2 freshman point guard, can flat-out play. He is averaging 24.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.7 steals and 4.7 steals per game.
The Tritons have won every time they have played mostly because of Harris. He has led them to a 9-0 start in their first season on varsity.
How Harris ended up at a school with an enrollment of 95 students had a lot to do with how long Pacifica Christian has been around.
“A kid like that can go anywhere he kind of wants,” said Pacifica Christian Coach Jeff Berokoff, who has been at the school since it opened last year. “I think just doing something that no one has done before him is what kind of inspired him to kind of help build a legacy.
“He kind of just heard about a new school [popping] up, and I think with any kid that good, they’re like, ‘I have a new school.’ Their family kind of saw … the vision for the program and kind of what the school was doing academically and spiritually, and thought, ‘Hey, this may be a perfect fit for our son.’ We’re lucky to have him.”
Colleges are recruiting Harris, and his season isn’t even a month old. Harris can handle the ball, drive, shoot (49%), make free throws (83%) and defend.
Berokoff said Harris has offers from Stetson University in Florida and California Baptist University in Riverside, where Berokoff played for two years. Berokoff added that Pacific-12 Conference and Big East Conference programs have contacted him about Harris.
Harris has a couple of people to help him with the recruiting process, his dad, Shawn, and his walk-on coach. Shawn Harris is in his first season as an assistant coach with the Vanguard University men’s basketball team, and Berokoff was a highly recruited player from La Habra Sonora who went on to play at San Diego State for two seasons before he transferred.
When Berokoff was in high school, he said Utah, Miami, Arizona State, Santa Clara and Auburn were also interested in him. Those colleges started recruiting him as a guard the summer before his senior year in 1997-98.
The recruiting game has changed since Berokoff’s high school playing days. He understands why when he has a player with Dominick Harris’ all-around game.
“He’s arguably the top freshman in California,” Berokoff said of Harris. “His game speaks for itself. He’s extremely talented, but he puts in the work.”
The work ethic is paying off for Harris and the Tritons. He helped Pacifica Christian win its first tournament, beating host Avalon, 65-47, in the Catalina Classic final last Saturday.
The schedule has been relatively easy for Pacifica Christian, a freelance program.
The Tritons’ toughest test of the season is Friday. They play Saddleback Valley Christian (10-1), ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA poll, as part of the Orange County North-South Challenge at El Toro High at 12:30 p.m.
“They’ve beaten some pretty good teams,” Berokoff said of the Warriors, who have wins against La Puente Bishop Amat and Ocean View, ranked No. 5 and No. 7, respectively, in Division 3AA, as well against Claremont Webb, No. 6 in Division 5AA. “Our style is not going to change by who we play. We like to really push tempo, be aggressive offensively.”
