SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : 3-A Final : After Tragedy, Spratt Quietly Carries On for Corona del Mar

Brian Spratt of Corona del Mar High School had just finished the most successful season of his aspiring athletic career.

Spratt had helped Corona del Mar’s sophomore basketball team complete the 1986-87 season with a 19-0 record. The Sea Kings’ closest game was 19 points. It was a time of celebration, and the players looked forward to the school’s awards ceremony.

It was also the best of times for Spratt’s father, Lt. Daniel Spratt, commander of the Orange County Sheriff’s Academy. The elder Spratt had just put the finishing touches on a new rifle range in Orange and eagerly looked forward to the opening ceremonies.

But on Feb. 20, the day the range opened, Spratt, a 21-year veteran of the department, began complaining of intense headaches. He underwent surgery the next day to remove a blood cot in the right side of his brain.

Five days later, Dan Spratt, 41, died.

“He was never sick a day in his life,” said his widow, Tina Spratt. “It was a tremendous blow to the entire family.”

Suddenly, Tina Spratt was left to raise two stepsons on her late husband’s retirement fund. She sold her home in Newport Beach and moved to Irvine.

“The boys were very quiet,” she said. “I wasn’t sure how Brian would react. He went to the awards banquet and all the other fathers were there with their sons. He really missed his father at the banquet.

“They used to talk after his games, and Dan would critique his play. Brian really looked up to his father. He’s had to do a lot of growing up over the past two years.”

Today, Spratt still shows little emotion when he talks about his father, which isn’t very often.

“He’s come up to me after games a couple of times and said, ‘I wish my Dad could have seen this game,’ ” Tina Spratt said.

Spratt has played four outstanding games in Corona del Mar’s drive for the Southern Section 3-A division championship. Corona del Mar (19-9) will play Trabuco Hills (21-6) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the Sports Arena for the title.

Spratt, a 6-foot-5 center, has been the team’s leading scorer in postseason play, averaging 20 points in four games. He averaged only seven points per game in regular-season play.

Spratt is a tough defender inside who generally guards an opponent’s tallest player. He is a good rebounder and an accurate shooter to 15 feet.

Spratt has no specific explanation for his sudden scoring success in the playoffs, saying only, “I’m more intense in the playoffs. When I hear talk that team is better than us, I get psyched up.”

True to his word, Spratt scored 22 points in a 69-63 upset over top-seeded Rolling Hills in the quarterfinals and had 21 points in a 57-56 overtime victory over third-seeded Morningside.

“Morningside was a sweet win because they had this reputation of being a run-and-gun team and we shut them down,” Spratt said.

Spratt admitted he gets very nervous before playing, but added he settles down once he jumps for the center tipoff.

“I think getting nervous helps me play better,” he said. “I don’t know why, but I can’t sit still before a game. I was real nervous before our first (playoff) game with El Dorado, but since then, I’ve felt we’re on a roll and can’t be beat.

“The El Dorado game was the turning point in our season. When we beat them (61-43), you could see the confidence grow. Our defense and controlling the tempo has been the big difference in the playoffs.”

Corona del Mar has defeated four teams--El Dorado, Laguna Hills, Rolling Hills and Morningside--which played up-tempo games. Corona del Mar has given up an average of only 55.7 points in the playoffs with its pressure man-to-man defense.

“There have been times when I got so bored repeating so many defensive drills here,” Spratt said. “We still do one-on-one full-court drills every day. But our defense has gotten us to the finals, and hopefully, our defense will win us the championship.”

Said Tina Spratt: “He’s trying so hard to win the championship. I look back over the past two years, and I’m often amazed how much he’s grown up. The one thing I’ve learned is that our children are very resilient. Life goes on for everyone.”