SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Klinke Makes a Trans-Atlantic Post Move

Corey Klinke, a Trabuco Hills High School senior, might have been a fairly decent cricket player by now. He might have excelled at rugby, starred in soccer or finally developed a taste for tea and scones.

But Klinke wanted out--that is, out of England, where he lived for four years with his brother, mother and stepfather, an English diplomat.

His decision to move back to Mission Viejo four years ago was the best move of his life, Klinke said.

It was a pretty good move for Trabuco Hills basketball, too.

Thanks in part to Klinke, Trabuco Hills (24-5) plays for the Southern Section II-A boys’ basketball title today. The Mustangs meet Kennedy (23-6) at the Los Angeles Sports Arena at 1 p.m.

Klinke, a 6-foot-7 forward, was strictly a post player until this season, when 6-11 Australian exchange student Gavin Vanderputten assumed that role.

Klinke says the change was fine by him. He enjoys the range the forward position allows, as well as the opportunity it has given him to develop a more all-around game. He averages 11 points and 6.8 rebounds, and, along with Vanderputten, leads the team with two blocked shots a game.

“Corey was used to having his back to the basket, but he has the ability to do more than that,” Trabuco Hills Coach Rainer Wulf said. “It’s allowed him to learn more skills facing the basket. He’s really progressed in that regard.”

Want to talk progression? Consider that Klinke didn’t even play basketball until his freshman year. He probably would have, he said, had he not spent a good part of his childhood stuck in a suburb of London, trying to make due with misery.

Klinke, normally the quietest, most reserved player on his team, has little trouble getting fired up when talk turns to England. Among his complaints:

The weather--”Always awful,” he says.

The people--”So anti-American.”

The big city--”London’s a big boring town--nothing to do.”

The food--”Oh! That’s why I’m so skinny. They take lamb and boil it solid. They boil everything solid.”

After spending a year attending a government-run school in London, Klinke said his mother and stepfather decided he would receive a better education at Dover College, a private boarding school 50 miles outside of London.

There, Klinke met with greater academic success--but increased stress. Teachers were strict, and the English students were unkind, he says. He made due by making friends with other foreign students and by playing sports. Although he enjoyed soccer, other traditional English sports were not to his liking.

“We played rugby, which is OK, but they play in the snow and they only let you wear shorts and shirts,” Klinke said. “So I didn’t like it.

“I played cricket, too. It’s worse than baseball. And I don’t like baseball.”

But then he moved in with his father in Mission Viejo and started playing basketball. Love at first shot, right?

Wrong. “I hated it at first,” he says. “I was bad at it, but my dad told me to try out.”

Now he’s glad he did. Wulf says Klinke is a strong leaper and, thanks to his soccer background, has good foot skills below the basket. Klinke, however, needs to improve his consistency and concentration, Wulf says.

Klinke admits it’s true. Every so often, he seems to lose touch during games. He drifts off in a daze until someone or something snaps him back to being aggressive.

Perhaps a spot of tea would do the trick.