All-Around Athletes

Saturday’s Southern Section Division III-A championship game against West Hills Chaminade will be just another bump in the road for the Corona del Mar boys’ basketball team.

The 11 Sea King players who will step onto the floor of the Arrowhead Pond at 9 a.m. take up 30 roster spots on six Corona del Mar teams--basketball, football, baseball, water polo, swimming and volleyball.

So, while the players are excited about competing in Saturday’s final, many are also eager to move on to their spring sports, which began practice several weeks ago.

The team’s leading scorer, forward Dennis Alshuler, as well as guard Alec Hanson and swingman Kevin Hansen helped Corona del Mar win the 1998 section Division III volleyball title. They’re eager to begin putting the ball over the net, rather than in it.

Center Garrett Bowlus played water polo in the fall and will join the swim team when basketball ends, and swingman Geoff Hunt plays outfielder and catcher in baseball.

In this age of specialization among high school athletes, Hunt said the Sea Kings are encouraged to play as many sports as they can. That’s as much out of necessity as anything else--Corona del Mar’s enrollment is only about 1,000 students.

But that’s fine with Hunt, who said those who participate in sports receive a wealth of experiences, including the opportunity to play against top-seeded Chaminade (23-4), the defending division champion. Corona del Mar, an at-large entrant to the playoffs after finishing fourth in the Sea View League, is 18-10.

“When we were all younger, we played a bunch of sports,” Hunt said. “And at this school, we get a chance to play all the sports and it’s great. I know I would be bored being stuck in one sport year-round. At most schools you maybe get a chance to start in just one.

“Certain parents here push their kids into one sport for a scholarship,” Hunt continued. “But the majority of parents say no to that, and that’s why all the guys play all these sports. They like to play them, and it’s a lot of fun without that added pressure.”

Basketball Coach Paul Orris said he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We go against the trend in athletics here,” Orris said. “We don’t have the student body in numbers in which we can say to a kid that he should only play football or only play basketball year-round. If I told the guys they could only play basketball, I’d have a hard time fielding a team.”

And make no mistake, Orris has benefited from his multi-sport athletes over the years. The Sea Kings won Division IV-AA titles in 1993 and ‘95, advanced to the section final in ’89 and ’90 and the semifinals in ’94.

“There’s a certain physicalness that these athletes have that we strive for in basketball,” Orris said. “Sure, you give up some things in terms of individualized training . . . but the big positive is their aggressiveness and athleticism, which makes up for it.”

Justin Shea, a 6-4 senior center who also plays tight end and defensive end for the Sea Kings’ football team, said he sees a lot of benefits in keeping busy.

“You’re always in really good shape,” Shea said. “You have a lot of endurance.”

Shea sat out his junior year of basketball after injuring a knee playing football.

“I knew I would ride the bench,” he said, “so I figured I’d just lift my butt off with weights in the off-season and get ready for my final year.”

Shea said he believes coaches at other schools might have turned their backs on him but said Orris welcomed him back.

“It was no problem,” Shea said.

Shea, one of the few basketball players who does not participate in a spring sport, said he would miss the competition once this season is over.

“This is it for me, so it’s do or die,” he said. “This is my chance to win a championship.”