SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Fuerbringer Finally Gets Into the Flow : Boys’ basketball: No longer an offensive decoy, the Estancia sophomore is a big reason the Eagles are in the division final.

At the beginning of the season, Estancia basketball Coach Tim O’Brien had three suggestions for sophomore center Matt Fuerbringer.

--Play tough defense.

--Rebound.

--And get the heck out of the way on offense.

With guards Agustin Heredia, Mike Haas and Paul McDaniel driving the lane and launching three-point shots, Fuerbringer rarely saw the ball after warm-ups.

This was something new for Fuerbringer, who was used to bringing the ball upcourt.

“When I was a little kid, I always wanted the ball so I played guard,” he said. “I used to like to get out to the side and drive with the ball. But I moved to the post my freshman year and I learned how to play down low.”

Fuerbringer, 6 feet 4, learned how to get position inside, often against players three or four inches taller.

He also discovered how to time blocked shots, set screens and move without the ball. During this learning process, which lasted through the regular season, Fuerbringer averaged 11 points and seven rebounds a game.

“O’Brien didn’t rush (junior forward) Torrey Hammond and me into being a part of the offense,” Fuerbringer said. “At the beginning of the year, we could get away with clearing out the lane so the guards could drive.”

But not anymore. Fuerbringer is no longer just an offensive decoy.

He has been averaging 17.7 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots a game during the Southern Section 3-AA playoffs, and he is one of the main reasons the Eagles (19-9) are playing Servite (17-10) in the championship game at 8:30 tonight at the Bren Center.

“He really started to come on the last part of the season,” O’Brien said. “He started to develop his inside game. We started with a perimeter offense, and through practices he and Torrey started to develop a low-post game.

“We’re young and our strength is our guards. It makes sense to go to them. But our guards were getting so much pressure, we had to go inside, too.”

And that’s what the Eagles did in an 81-78, triple-overtime semifinal victory over Lompoc Friday night.

Fuerbringer scored nine of his 18 points in the overtime periods, including a three-point play with five seconds left in the third extra session.

“We didn’t have a designed play for him,” O’Brien said. “He took it on his own and got fouled. He took it right down the gut.”

Although Estancia hasn’t had many talented centers in the last few years, O’Brien knows a thing or two about coaching them. He helped develop center Leo Parker (6-6) and forward Rog Middleton (6-4) at Tustin before coming to Estancia in 1987.

“O’Brien is good at coaching his strength,” Fuerbringer said. “When he was at Tustin, he had good low-post players so he went to them. Here, he has good guards and we went with them. Lately, it’s a mixture of the two.”

O’Brien said Fuerbringer is the best young center he has coached.

“He’s shown some mental toughness with what he’s done down the stretch,” O’Brien said. “Now we’ve got a sophomore who is scoring 17 or 18 (points) a game.

“He’s way ahead of where Leo was at that stage. Leo didn’t play organized basketball until he got to high school. Leo had a lot of talent, but I would say Matt is a little more refined.”

There have been some rough edges, however. In the first game of the season, a 67-52 loss to Woodbridge, Fuerbringer was outscored, 14-6, by Warrior center Romalis Taylor.

“I got beat up badly,” Fuerbringer said. “Romalis was strong down low.”

But Fuerbringer got stronger. And quicker. And tougher.

“I had no idea he would come along this far this fast,” O’Brien said. “I brought him up to the varsity from the junior varsity team last year and he couldn’t even get a shot off. Last summer he played with the varsity. He got banged up, but stayed with them.”

O’Brien said Fuerbringer has only one weakness--his weight. Fuerbringer’s a rail-thin 155 pounds, but O’Brien expects that to change in the next two years.

“There aren’t too many sophomores who have filled out, except maybe for Brandon Jessie at Edison,” O’Brien said. “I was talking to (former Estancia Coach) Larry Sunderman and he said Matt is the best big man here since (the late) Steve Van Horn, who played in the late 1970s.

“Everyone says his potential is there. He’s going to be a franchise player for us the next two years.”

But you won’t find Fuerbringer wondering about potential. He’s wondering how he and Hammond are going to stop Steve Marusich, Servite’s 6-7 center who scored 27 points in a 74-60 semifinal victory over Culver City.

“I think we should win this,” Fuerbringer said. “We match up better with Servite than we would have against Culver City. I think we’re a lot quicker than Servite.”

A victory would give Estancia its first Southern Section title in boys’ basketball. The Eagles’ last appearance in the finals was in 1984, when they lost to J.W. North, 63-53, in the 3-A title game.

A loss would be a disappointing end to what Fuerbringer calls “a pretty good season.”

“We still have something to prove,” he said. “We made it to the finals of the La Quinta tournament and lost to Foothill on a last-second shot. We lost to Edison by three in the semifinals of our tournament.

“Then we had a chance to win the (Sea View) league but lost to Corona del Mar in our last (regular-season) game. We lost a lot of important games this year. Now it’s our turn to win one.”

Regardless of tonight’s outcome, Fuerbringer doesn’t expect much rest and relaxation after the game. He is also a middle blocker on the Eagles’ volleyball team, and already a week late for practice.

“I like volleyball a lot,” Fuerbringer said. “I was a first-team All-American in Junior Olympics in my eighth-grade year.

“But basketball is more fun for me. It’s more exciting.”

O’Brien said he’s not sure which sport will dominate Fuerbringer’s future.

“I talked to our volleyball coach the other day and he said Matt’s a Division I prospect in volleyball right now,” O’Brien said. “In basketball? You never know. It just depends on if he can improve some more.”

ESTANCIA vs. SERVITE

RECORDS--Estancia (19-5), Servite (17-10)

SITE--Bren Center, Irvine; 8:30 p.m.

ESTANCIA UPDATE--The Eagles survived a 4 1/2-hour bus ride and a triple-overtime game against Lompoc in the semifinals. The trip and game left the Estancia players exhausted. Guards Agustin Heredia and Paul McDaniel didn’t practice Monday because of the flu. Both are expected to play tonight. Heredia, a 5-foot-10 point guard, has been the spark for the Eagles all season. His play has improved even more during the playoffs. He scored 32 points against Lompoc. “At this stage, one guy is not going to do it for you,” Estancia Coach Tim O’Brien said. “We have an eight-man rotation. All of them will have to step in and do something for us.” Center Matt Fuerbringer, a 6-4 sophomore, is the Eagles’ only big man. Fuerbringer averaged 11 points per game during the regular season but has averaged 17 in the playoffs.

SERVITE UPDATE--The Friars have improved steadily throughout the playoffs. They survived close games against Trabuco Hills (58-53) and Centennial (41-39), then easily handled Culver City (74-60) in the semifinals. Center Steve Marusich, a 6-7 senior, has played well in the playoffs. He has averaged 20 points per game in the playoffs and has dominated the inside. Adam Anderson has also played well in the postseason. “He has finally learned how to play hard,” Coach Richard Smith said. “That has improved our consistency.” Guards Jamie Rosenkranz and Paul Stapleton have played steadily through the postseason. Servite will have a height advantage against Estancia with Marusich, Anderson (6-4) and Mike Coady (6-4). The Eagles have only one player taller than 6-3.

KEY TO THE GAME--Servite can’t let Heredia dictate the game. Estancia will have to get a strong game from its inside players, especially Fuerbringer.

CONSENSUS--Servite will be too strong inside. The Friars in a close game.

3-AA BOYS’ CHAMPIONSHIP GAME LINEUPS

ESTANCIA (19-5) SERVITE (17-10) Name Hgt. Yr. PPG Pos. Name Hgt. Yr. Mike Haas 6-1 Jr. 10.4 F Mike Coady 6-4 Sr. Torrey Hammond 6-4 Jr. 6.5 F Adam Anderson 6-4 So. Matt Fuerbringer 6-4 So. 12.0 C Steve Marusich 6-7 Sr. Agustin Heredia 5-10 Sr. 19.8 G Jamie Rosenkranz 6-3 Sr. Paul McDaniel 6-0 Jr. 7.0 G Paul Stapleton 6-1 Sr. Coach Tim O’Brien Coach Richard Smith

ESTAN Name PPG Mike Haas 5.0 Torrey Hammond 10.0 Matt Fuerbringer 15.4 Agustin Heredia 6.0 Paul McDaniel 6.3 Coach Tim O’Brien