Guard With an Attitude Now on a Roll : Division III-AA: Estancia’s Mike Haas, who ‘has been in the doghouse’ a few times with his coach, has been a hot shot lately.

Mike Haas isn’t exactly the patron saint of the Estancia High School basketball team.

“He has been in the doghouse a few times,” Coach Tim O’Brien said.

In his past two seasons, Haas has been benched twice for disciplinary reasons. Nothing serious, though.

“Just a little attitude-adjustment session now and then,” O’Brien said. “Sometimes he thinks he can take on the world alone.”

He was benched his junior year for missing curfew. He rode the lonesome pine in the Eagles’ Pacific Coast League opener against Laguna Beach this season for the same reason.

“I get frustrated after I get benched, and I think about it at night,” Haas said. “Then in school, everyone looks at you like, ‘Where were you last night? Why weren’t you playing?’

“That makes you want to go out and prove them wrong. If I go out and hit a couple of shots in the next game, I get back on the coach’s good list. Then everything comes easier after that.”

And before we lock him up and throw away the key, we need to remember one thing: Haas has created more trouble for basketball opponents than for O’Brien.

His three-point shooting has helped the top-seeded Eagles (25-4) reach the Southern Section Division III-AA championship game against second-seeded Pomona (20-6). Tipoff is 11:15 a.m. at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

“The other kids on the team get a kick out of Mike,” O’Brien said. “He has this ‘I-can-beat-all’ attitude. The kids almost laugh at it at times. He thinks every three-point shot he takes is going down.”

At times, every shot does go down.

Haas, a 6-foot-1 senior, is a streak shooter. When he gets on a roll, he will swish it from just about anywhere. He won’t even need to check to see if he’s behind the three-point line.

“If you’re a three-point shooter, you had better believe that it’s going down,” Haas said. “If you have any other attitude, you won’t score. It’s all mental. You have to zero in early and get on a streak.”

But when he’s not on a roll . . . well, O’Brien cringes at the thought.

Haas’ 151 three-point attempts during the regular season ranks third in the county behind Capistrano Valley’s Tom Airey (278) and Jon Grobler of St. Michael’s Prep (156). Haas made 65 shots for 43%.

“That still figures up to a lot of misses,” O’Brien said. “‘But that’s the kind of mentality shooters have to have. They have to have the confidence to take that shot.”

And Haas’ confidence hasn’t withered in the playoffs.

After missing the Eagles’ 62-34 first-round victory over Los Amigos with the flu, he has scored 11, 15 and 17 points in three playoff games. He made five of seven three-point attempts Tuesday in a 63-38 semifinal victory over Ganesha.

“Mike was pretty hot early in the year with his three-pointer,” O’Brien said. “Then he cooled off in the middle of the season, and now he’s hot again.”

Haas said the credit for his improved shooting belongs to assistant coach Judd Fryslie.

“Coach Fryslie has really helped me,” Haas said. “When I go in slumps, he pulls me out. He tells me what I’m doing wrong with my shot. He works on all the details.”

Haas is one of three guards on the team, along with Paul McDaniels and Son Ly. All three average in double figures.

“Son’s more of a flashier player and I’m more of a shooter,” he said. “Paul is so incredibly quick, he can penetrate inside. (Center) Matt Fuerbringer scores and rebounds inside and (forwards) Torrey Hammond and Jeff Hokanson do all the dirty work.”

Estancia’s chemistry has produced four blowouts so far in the playoffs. The Eagles have outscored opponents, 268-171. They have held first-quarter leads of 20-4 and 25-7.

Why are the Eagles in such a hurry to win?

Haas said he and his teammates are feeling pressure to repeat as section champions.

“Last year we were lucky to be in the final after beating Lompoc in three overtimes up there,” he said. “But after we won at Ganesha (Friday night) no one celebrated. We just got on the bus and came home.”

Their thoughts were on the Sports Arena, where they will play for the first time. Last year’s championship game was played at Bren Center.

“The Sports Arena . . . that’s quite the big show,” McDaniels said. “But it’s like our coach said. He knew where we were going, we just had to get there.”