SEA VIEW LEAGUE : Tustin Showing It’s the Team to Chase for the Championship

Among Sea View League boys’ basketball coaches, there is little doubt Tustin High School is the favorite to win the league title.

The only doubt comes from Tustin Coach Tom McCluskey, who is uncomfortable thinking so far into the future. In November, he ranked his team second in Orange County in the Times’ preseason poll, fourth in the league behind Corona del Mar, Woodbridge and Saddleback.

After a fast start that included winning the championship of the Trabuco Hills Tournament, McCluskey admitted he was less than forthcoming with his prediction.

“We don’t expect to be fourth but we know it’s going to be tough,” McCluskey said. “The last couple of years, we’ve faded the last couple of weeks of the season, so we’re going in kind of cautiously. We feel we have our best team in the four years I’ve been here, but you never know what is going to happen.”

Said Newport Harbor Coach Bob Serven: “He’s sandbagging a lot. They should be first, hands down. They have a great team.

“His second string may be fourth, but his first team is first.”

A closer look:

CORONA DEL MAR

Coach: Paul Orris (fifth year).

1989-90 record: 20-11, 7-3 in league.

Returning lettermen: Two.

Returning starters: One.

Top returnees: Jon Upham (F, 6-5, Sr.); Doug Hesse (F, 6-4, Jr.).

Top newcomers: Jeff Orris (C, 6-2, Sr.); Jason Clark (G, 6-1, Jr.); Mike Susson (G, 5-10, Jr.); Dave Olsen (G, 6-1, Sr.); Nick Mansour (G-F, 6-2, Sr.).

Outlook: Only two players remain from the team that lost to Dos Pueblos in the Division 3-A championship game, which helps explain why the Sea Kings have started slowly. A tough schedule--the team plays Estancia (twice), Canyon Country Canyon, Capistrano Valley and Banning in nonleague games--hasn’t helped, but Orris believes it will once league starts. “I think we’ll be right in there when league comes around, but we may take some lumps getting there,” Orris said.

NEWPORT HARBOR

Coach: Bob Serven (second year).

1989-90 record: 20-7, 7-3 in league.

Returning lettermen: Three.

Returning starters: One.

Top returnees: Justin McIntee (F, 6-3, Jr.); Huy Nguyen (G, 5-11, Sr.).

Top newcomers: Mike Stipe (G, 6-0, Sr.); Mark McAnlis (F, 6-2, Soph.); Mike Klytta (G, 5-10, Sr.).

Outlook: The Sailors, who were co-league champions with Corona del Mar last season, are a smaller, quicker team this year. The front line, which at 7-foot, 6-7 and 6-4 was one of the tallest in the county, is gone but the team has started this season quickly, losing only to Irvine in the championship of the Tipoff Classic. Still, Serven is concerned with the Sailors’ lack of depth, which was further diminished last week when Billy Nguyen, who averaged 16 points in the first four games, was dismissed from school for disciplinary reasons.

SADDLEBACK

Coach: Pat Quinn (12th year).

1989-90 record: 18-11, 5-5 in league.

Returning lettermen: Two.

Returning starters: One.

Top returnees: Jason Register (F, 6-3, Jr.); Vince Chaverst (G, 6-1, Sr.).

Top newcomers: Chris Bradshaw (G, 5-11, Fr.); Rob Holloway (F, 6-4, Fr.); Luis Estrella (G, 6-1, Jr.).

Outlook: A difficult schedule, set up when Saddleback was consistently challenging for division titles, has made the early going tough. Four players from last year’s team are playing for Moorpark and Rancho Santiago colleges, two of the top community college teams in the state, and the remaining Roadrunners haven’t yet jelled. With two freshmen getting playing time and the team’s leader, Register, a junior, the Roadrunners have the youngest team in the league.

TUSTIN

Coach: Tom McCluskey (fourth year).

1989-90 record: 20-8, 5-5 in league.

Returning lettermen: Five.

Returning starters: Four.

Top returnees: David Beilstein (G, 5-11, Sr.); Thomas Clayton (G-F, 6-2, Sr.); Jentry Moore (G, 6-2, Jr.); Brian Reider (C, 6-6, Sr.); Robert Laubach (G-F, 6-0, Sr.)

Top newcomers: Derek Roach (G, 5-10 Jr.).

Outlook: Beilstein, who is averaging more than 20 points, is the most notable of the Tillers’ four returning starters and some teams have already tried to stop him with gimmick defenses. But McCluskey said the other players should be able to ease Beilstein’s load more than they were able to last season. Moore and Clayton were all-league selections last year.

UNIVERSITY

Coach: Mike Dinneen (first year).

1989-90 record: 5-18, 0-10 in league.

Returning lettermen: Four.

Returning starters: One.

Top returnees: Donnell Dowdy (F, 6-3, Jr.); Luis Venegas (G, 6-0, Jr.); David Bianco (F, 6-5, Sr.).

Top newcomers: Ben Durham (G, 6-0, Jr.); Michael James (G, 5-10, Jr.); Josh Whelihan (G, 5-11, Jr.); Clark Duey (F, 6-3, Jr.).

Outlook: Dinneen takes over after 10 years at St. Paul in Santa Fe Springs and brings with him a running style that has already helped the Trojans score 100 points for the first time in the school’s history in a 103-100 loss to Los Alamitos. Venegas, who was called up from the junior varsity before last league season, made nine three-point shots in a victory over Foothill and averaged 29 points in three Trabuco Hills Tournament games.

WOODBRIDGE

Coach: Bill Shannon (10th year).

1989-90 record: 14-12, 5-5 in Pacific Coast League.

Returning lettermen: Seven.

Returning starters: Four.

Top returnees: Ryan Rauch (F, 6-4, Sr.); Toby Ramos (G, 6-0, Jr.); Mike Fenton (C, 6-7, Sr.); Romalis Taylor (F, 6-3, Sr.); Bryant McLemore (F, 6-3, Sr.); Matt Murphy (G, 6-3, Jr.).

Top newcomers: Todd Loewe (G, 6-1, Jr.); Robin Pingle (G, 5-9, Sr.); Ryan Sunderman (F, 6-2, Jr.).

Outlook: Returning to the league after four years in the Pacific Coast League, the Warriors are the pick to give Tustin the toughest challenge for the title. Besides the seven lettermen back, Woodbridge has five players up from the junior varsity team that was 23-0 last season. Rauch, who has visited Yale and Columbia, should become the school’s third basketball player to earn an NCAA Division I scholarship. This is Woodbridge’s 10th season of varsity basketball.

Tuesday--The South Coast League.