BOYS 3-A BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME : Man-in-Charge McCluskey Has Tustin Knocking on Championship Door

“Stick with it, stick with it!”

The basketball bounces off the court and heads toward the open gymnasium door. Two Tustin High School players give chase, pushing and shoving each other, trying to get it.

You get the feeling that even if the ball rolls all the way across campus, the players will continue after it.

“Stick with it, stick with it!”

At that moment, nothing is more important to them than getting that ball.

Nothing.

“Stick with it, stick with it!”

Finally, one player outmuscles the other and grabs the ball just as it rolls out the door.

Coach Tom McCluskey smiles.

“Way to go. That’s it!”

Said senior center Leo Parker, “The ball is live during practice, wherever it goes. Coach McCluskey likes it like that.”

And if no one goes after the ball?

“Well, Coach McCluskey will probably say something that will motivate you,” Parker said.

You see, when McCluskey says jump, the players don’t waste time asking how high. They just start jumping.

And when McCluskey says win, the Tillers usually do, as their 24-5 record attests.

In his first season at Tustin, and just his third as a varsity coach, McCluskey has led the Tillers into the Southern Section 3-A final today against Kennedy. Along the way, he has left little doubt as to who is in charge.

“We knew whose way we were going to be doing things this season,” senior guard Brad Cantrell said. “Coach McCluskey made sure we knew.”

Practice time at Tustin is not for the squeamish. From the start, players are off and running--literally--with no breaks until the end of the session. When one drill ends, the next begins.

There are penalties for concentration lapses--one missed layup, some extra running; two missed layups, a lot of extra running, etc.

And all the time, McCluskey is shouting.

“Mental toughness is the most important thing you can have on the basketball court, “ he said. “It’s what wins games. So you have to practice with intensity.”

McCluskey also encourages physical play in practice, getting the players used to the pushing and shoving they’ll receive in a game.

And when the ball bounces out of bounds, look out--players dive from all directions, and sometimes into walls, to retrieve it.

“Games are like a vacation compared to our practices,” Parker said.

That is how McCluskey instills “mental toughness.”

McCluskey, 26, adopted his philosophy from the coaches he played for in college.

After he graduated from Redlands High School in 1979, McCluskey played first for Bill Mulligan and then for Bill Brummel at Saddleback College. In 1982, he transferred to Penn State, which was coached by Dick Harter, creator of the “Kamikaze Kids” at the University of Oregon.

All three of those coaches have outgoing coaching styles, to say the least.

“They were always screaming in practice,” McCluskey said. “I remember Mulligan telling me once that if I smiled during the game, I was never going to play again. I just had a habit of smiling, but it bothered him.

“But, I learned from those guys. They yelled a lot, but it sunk in.”

But after a knee injury cut short his college career in 1983, McCluskey returned to California with the idea he would never step on a basketball court again.

“The injury really got me depressed,” McCluskey said. “I am playing better than I ever had in my life. Then I go up for a shot and blow out my knee.”

McCluskey continued his education at Cal State Fullerton in 1984, earning a teaching credential in 1985. He did stay away from the basketball court--for six months.

Fontana Coach Steve Thornberg, a friend from high school, kept bugging McCluskey to help out with his team. At first, McCluskey said no, then finally agreed to attend a summer league game.

“As soon as I stepped into the gym, the adrenaline started flowing,” McCluskey said. “I found out I was really anxious to get back to the game. I couldn’t play anymore, so it was coaching.”

After one season, Thornberg resigned and McCluskey got the job.

He spent three years at Fontana and led the Rams to their first league title in 1986-87. Still, something was missing.

“The administration just didn’t support the program,” McCluskey said. “Fontana had been a football school for so long, nobody wanted a successful basketball team.”

So he left.

A friend told him of the opening at Tustin, so McCluskey drove straight to the school and applied.

“The differences between the two schools is like night and day,” McCluskey said. “At Tustin, the administration is behind the program all the way.”

As are the players.

After the initial shock of McCluskey’s style, they have come to respect and enjoy his different methods.

After the Tillers lost the Sea View League final to Newport Harbor, which cost Tustin a co-championship, McCluskey felt his team had been outhustled. So he installed the live-ball theory.

“We haven’t lost a loose ball since,” senior forward Lunyon Maxwell said.

TUSTIN vs. KENNEDY

RECORDS--Tustin 25-4, Kennedy 21-7.

SITE--Sports Arena, 11:30 a.m.

TUSTIN UPDATE--The Tillers defeated Palos Verdes, 63-59, in the semifinals, which was considered a mild upset. However, Tustin Coach Tom McCluskey told his players before the playoffs that they had the talent to reach the final. “I hope we’re realizing that potential,” McCluskey said. Center Leo Parker is healthy, which means the Tustin offense is set. Parker scored 25 points and had 11 rebounds against Palos Verdes. In the last three playoff games, Tustin has been forced to go to a zone defense because it lacked the quickness of its opponents.

KENNEDY UPDATE--The Irish rallied from oblivion in the semifinals against Rolling Hills. Kennedy, down by 24 points midway through the third quarter, came back to win, 83-80, in triple overtime. That stunning performance showed the caliber of talent Coach John Mayberry has. Forward Michael Keith reaggravated an old injury to his right elbow in the first quarter against Rolling Hills and didn’t participate in most of the Irish’s drills on Thursday. However, Keith has said he’ll be ready by game time.

KEY TO THE GAME--For Tustin, Brad Cantrell must hit his outside shots early so Kennedy cannot sack on Parker. Kennedy must get into its transition game.

CONSENSUS--Kennedy has the ability to run away with the game if the Irish play as they did in the second half against Rolling Hills. They won’t. Tustin plays with too much intensity. The Tillers in a close game.