On Target

Dane Plock never doubted his ability to shoot a basketball from just about anywhere on the court. The question was, just how consistent could the Estancia senior be?

With that in mind, Plock spent most of last fall taking an extra hour of shooting practice daily. The results? Good enough to earn him Times Orange County first-team honors and a spot on the roster for tonight’s Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club’s Orange County all-star basketball game.

The 31st high school boys’ game begins at 8 p.m. at Orange Coast College. The girls’ game begins at 5 p.m.

Plock, a 6-foot-1 guard who will attend Cal State Fullerton, averaged nearly 18 points and four assists and made nearly 44% of his three-point attempts this season for Estancia, which was 23-5 and won its second consecutive Pacific Coast League title. Plock was voted the league’s player of the year. With Plock in the lineup the last two seasons, the Eagles were 48-9 and advanced to the Southern Section playoffs twice, getting as far as the Division III-A semifinals in 1995.

“He is, by far, the most gifted athlete I’ve coached,” said Estancia Coach Tim Parsel, who will coach the South all-star squad. “He is an all-around player and as quick as anyone I’ve seen. He has excellent shooting range. He can shoot them from far out and he can shoot them accurately.”

Apparently Cal State Fullerton thought so too. Coach Bob Hawking and his staff were frequent visitors at Estancia and Plock gave them reason to smile when he signed a letter of intent early.

“The thing we really liked about him, besides his decision-making and ballhandling skills, is that he can really shoot it,” Hawking said. “That didn’t always show in his point guard role. At many times he was sacrificing his own stats in order to develop chemistry with the team and get others involved.”

Plock attended parochial schools as a youngster and when it came time to go to high school in the fall of 1992, he chose Mater Dei over Estancia, which was just minutes from his house. But after his freshman year, Plock saw that Mater Dei had too much talent and his future was limited there. He decided to attend public school for the first time.

Southern Section residency requirements at the time, however, prohibited Plock from playing for the varsity at Estancia in the 1993-94 season and he wound as the junior varsity’s most valuable player.

Plock wasn’t called upon to shoot as much in his junior season because the team had seven players who averaged just under 10 points. So Plock saw his role as a playmaker to be more important to the team effort. Consequently, he passed up a lot of open shots or drove the lane more in an attempt to create passing lanes to teammates.

“Personally, I always thought I could get my shot off quicker than a lot of people who have to get a good setup first,” Plock said. “I can come off the dribble and hit it. I have the ability to get open and create my own shots.”

But Plock admits he wasn’t always thinking that way.

“Up until last year I was a driver, dishing off to people,” he said. “In fact, I’d always seen my role that way since I started playing.”

Teammates were happy to see Plock increase his scoring this past season.

“Last year a lot of people said that he couldn’t shoot consistently well from outside,” said center Chris Candlish, also participating in tonight’s all-star game. “Everyone knew he could drive, but after this season he proved them wrong with his shooting.”

Hawking has difficulty containing his glee about signing Plock.

“He’s an outstanding player,” Hawking said. “He played point guard for his high school team and he played very effectively. He was instrumental in the success that Estancia had. We think he can play either guard spot for us.”